Texas A&M AgriLife Extension - Hockley County, encourages vehicle owners to check their recall status during NHTSA’s Vehicle Safety Recalls Month.
In the United States, over 50 million vehicles have unrepaired safety recalls and many of those recalls involve defective parts that can pose life-threatening risks to drivers or passengers, including those young passengers in child restraints and boosters. All vehicle recall repairs are free at authorized local dealerships.
Led by the National Safety Council (NSC), the Check To Protect campaign encourages all vehicle owners to proactively check their recall status and, if necessary, schedule a free repair as soon as possible.
Ashley Hanson, County Extension Agent, urges vehicle owners to take the few minutes to check their vehicle recall status. Like other types of recalls, they range from minor recalls that do not pose an imminent danger to severe recalls that affect the crash-worthiness and/or safety of the vehicle driver/passengers. If your vehicle does have an open recall, it is important to get that recall repaired as soon as possible.
Any vehicle owner can check for open safety recalls by visiting CheckToProtect.org and uploading a picture of the vehicle license plate or entering the license plate number and state.
Owners may also enter their 17-digit Vehicle Identification Number, or VIN. The VIN may be found on the driver’s side dash, inside the driver’s door, on your registration documents, or on your insurance card.
All recalls are free to have repaired at authorized dealerships, regardless of whether you purchased your vehicle from the dealership or take it there for regular service. For more information on vehicle safety recalls, visit CheckToProtect.org.
Did you know there are also child restraint recalls? Yes! If you have young kids riding in child restraints, it important to register the child restraint so that you are notified of any recalls that may occur with that restraint. If you have not registered your child restraint, you can go to the manufacturers website and register it there or contact your manufacturer via phone to register it.
Double check on the national child restraint recall list, made available by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) at nhtsa.gov/recalls.