Tag: automotive recalls

In its effort to further enhance recall effectiveness, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently announced the launch of SaferCar, a free smartphone app that will notify drivers of recalls on their vehicles by simply inputting its information.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, car sales plummeted, automakers shut down plants, and the industry braced for one of their biggest challenges in history. The automotive industry, which represents the nation’s largest manufacturing sector and employs roughly 1.5 million people in manufacturing, sales, and service, took a major economic hit.

While U.S. product recalls were relatively flat from the second to third quarter, expect an upsurge in the weeks and months to come as regulators – under growing pressure from Congress and consumer groups – turn their attention to currently unregulated categories.  Part of that pressure on regulators is a result of past handling of product safety issues.

ACConventional wisdom suggests that automation and robotics should make products safer by removing the potential for human error adding more precision to production. But some industries are finding that automation is a double-edged sword. The food industry, in particular, has experienced a string of product recalls whose origins can be traced back to automated systems. Take factory farming, for example. Food Quality & Safety Magazine

Most consumers are aware that it’s illegal for retailers to sell products that have been recalled—the large fines resulting from these violations, often totaling millions of dollars, tend to receive a fair amount of media coverage. After all, intuitively it makes sense that retailers would be responsible for ensuring that their customers don’t go home with potentially dangerous or hazardous products.