Paralyzed by the Dashboard Light*

Lots of people use cars on a daily basis and like anything used widely and frequently lots of people have ideas about making cars easier to use. Not everyone is an auto enthusiast, but anyone who uses a car is an expert on cars at some level.

I think this is the ethos behind the recall-alert-in-the-dashboard concept recently proposed in a committee of the U.S. Senate. We have a big problem with vehicle recalls in this country – an alert in the dashboard could go a long way to solving this problem – especially out of concern for mitigating recall-related fatalities.

The problem has many facets.  Auto makers are struggling to find recalled cars, identify their current owners (if used), notify them in a timely manner and convince them to bring their cars in for repairs.

As reported in the Automotive News two weeks ago, the U.S. Congress recently considered an amendment to the Comprehensive Transportation and Consumer Protection Act of 2015 that would provide for a “warning system in each new motor vehicle to indicate to the operator in a conspicuous manner when the vehicle is subject to an open recall.”

Full bill: “Comprehensive Transportation and Consumer Safety Act of 2015” - https://tinyurl.com/qgmxp9v

Crafted by Senators Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), the amendment would have required the Transportation Secretary to study and report on a dashboard recall alert within a year. The amendment failed by an 8-16 vote in committee.

The concept is both elegant and na?ve. Wouldn’t a dashboard alert simplify things? Shouldn’t consumers know right away when their vehicle is vulnerable to a potentially life-threatening flaw?  (Notification currently happens via the postal service)

The reality of the dreaded (by the industry) recall is that it is, by definition, life threatening. Less-than-life-threatening recalls are covered by manufacturer warranties.

But imagine a car with a dashboard alert for recalls – and consider the fact that the alert could not be disabled or switched off until the recall was “closed” or corrected. It’s truly a compelling message: “There is something very wrong with your car that you need to correct right away!”

But this idea failed. Other recall notification provisions have passed as part of the ongoing legislative process, which has yet to be completed. Dealers are obliged to notify their customers who bring their cars in for repairs when those cars are subject to open recalls. And a pilot program is proposed for state departments of motor vehicle to notify new car registrants of open recalls on their cars.

Dealers are, of course, obliged to repair recalled vehicles at no charge – but the notification process does not obligate the dealer to make the repairs unless the customer asks. Similarly, the state DMVs may notify consumers of open recalls, but they will nevertheless register the cars.

Used car dealers have been exempted from NOT selling cars with open recalls. (They have great lobbyists.) Rental car companies have voluntarily agreed not to rent cars with open recalls – and the legislation currently includes that provision. (Rental car companies must have lousy lobbyists.)

Of course, that doesn’t mean rental car companies aren’t renting cars with open recalls today. An NBC investigative report found multiple rental agencies renting cars with open recalls. (https://tinyurl.com/nvfk4qa - “Is Your Rental Car Part of a Major Recall”)

The problem is that there are simply too many recalls outstanding to make the repairs in a timely manner. The scope of the problem poses an existential challenge to the automotive industry.

Consumers don’t have time to bring their cars in for inconvenient, though important, recalls. And even if they did, many of the most urgent recalls – such as the Takata shrapnel/airbag recall – cannot be performed due to a limited supply of parts.

Car companies are increasingly being asked to respond in real time to correct flaws in hundreds of thousands or millions of vehicles with networks consisting of a few thousand resource-starved dealers. It is enough to make consumers and regulators take a closer look at using public transportation or bicycles – anything but cars!

The industry is clearly in need of a new form of customer service for handling vehicle hardware and software corrections, repairs or replacements and for being better able to respond to catastrophic failures which now include potential cybersecurity hacks. The magnitude of the widening recall crisis has served to stimy legislators seeking to mitigate the losses in lives and property resulting from vehicle failures.

An irresistible force – the U.S. Congress – has run headlong into an immovable object – the automotive industry. No good will come from the resulting frustration. Irresistible forces always win.

A cute little dashboard alert won’t solve the problem. Maybe we need a shadow fleet of cars to fill in while vehicles with open recalls are removed from the road. Uber, anyone?

We definitely need a greater commitment to nipping recalls in the bud. The red light is on for the auto industry. People are losing their lives and auto executives are losing their jobs and new market entrants around the world are poised to step in and provide an alternative. All of this should be motivation enough for the auto industry to proactively tackle the challenge without government intervention.

That is, unless we want a recall alert in every dashboard.

A final important note: A little understood side of the recall challenge is the monumental volume of tire recalls.  Yes, tire recalls.  There are millions of tires recalled every year - but this activity flies under the radar of the average consumer.  For a better understanding see: https://www.safetyresearch.net/

*Special thanks to the Congressional Research Service