With its newest tool, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) puts vehicle safety information in the hands of American drivers.
NHTSA recently unveiled a vehicle identification number (VIN) look-up tool on its website, safercar.gov, allowing drivers to enter a VIN and identify whether that vehicle is subject to a safety recall issued over the last 15 years.
“Just as every single automaker should never hesitate to recall a defective vehicle, consumers should never hesitate to get their recalled vehicle fixed,” said NHTSA Deputy Administrator David Friedman. “By making individual VIN searches readily available, we’re providing another service to consumers: the peace of mind knowing that the vehicle they own, or that they are thinking of buying or renting, is free of safety defects.”
Drivers can now search by VIN and see the recall information associated with their individual vehicle instead of listing their vehicle’s make, model, and year of manufacture, which was required in older search tools. The tool searches motor vehicles, motorcycles, scooters, mopeds, and light trucks that have been recalled or have not been fixed as part of a current recall.
Patricia Carnes, a Volpe project manager who spent nearly a year overseeing a team supporting the technical aspects of this NHTSA project, said the tool helps alleviate the stress drivers face of not knowing whether they’re driving or buying a vehicle that has been recalled.
“We’re trying to make the roads safer for the public and this is one way for someone who owns a vehicle or someone who is shopping for a vehicle to know right away if there is a recall outstanding on their vehicle,” Carnes said.
How the Tool Works
As part of a 2013 congressional mandate, vehicle manufacturers were required to list all details on ongoing recalls relating to their vehicles on their websites and update that information once a week. The new VIN look-up tool serves as a liaison between drivers and that manufacturer data.
When an individual enters a VIN, which in most cars is located on the dashboard near the windshield or the driver’s side door near the latch, the tool uses Volpe-developed code to decipher the VIN and identify which manufacturer to request information from. Information for that vehicle is pulled—whether it is subject to any outstanding recalls and if there is a fix available for that recall—and relayed to the user, all in a matter of nanoseconds.
If the vehicle has already been fixed under an existing recall or is not subject to any recalls, the tool lets them know there are no outstanding recalls.
Carnes’ team worked in tandem with NHTSA’s Office of Defect Investigations Recall Division to develop the VIN look-up tool over the past year. The team tested the tool with manufacturers around the world over the last three months.
“It looks very simple, but behind the scenes testing with national and internationally based manufacturers was quite a challenge,” Carnes said, praising the collaboration between her team and NHTSA.
