Recalls over safety issues reached a worldwide record high in 2014

Recalls over safety issues reached a worldwide record high in 2014. Safety defects invehicles have caused accidents resulting in numerous deaths and injuries. The costsincurred are running in the billions. While appropriate legal instruments are provided for byEuropean product safety law, sustainable countermeasures have yet to be taken by thecompetent market surveillance authorities. Prompted in particular by General Motors’ recallover defective ignition switches and Takata’s recall for faulty airbags, the U.S. surveillanceagency National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has taken drastic measuresto search for the underlying root causes in order to support the protection of public safety aswell as plaintiffs in private litigation cases. In March 2015, Senators Richard Blumenthal andEdward J. Markey proposed a bill (the “Repairing Every Car to Avoid Lost Lives Act” or“RECALL Act”) which would primarily seek to ensure that the registration of vehicles underrecall could only be approved or renewed once the cause of the recall were eliminated. Thebill was introduced against the backdrop of a mere 65% recall completion rate, meaning thatonly 65% of recalled vehicles are actually repaired within 18 months following the recall,during which time these vehicles continue to pose serious risks.