Safety agency seeks ideas on getting more recall fixes done

Frustrated that cars recalled for serious safety defects aren’t getting fixed quickly enough, the nation’s auto safety chief is hosting a gathering of automakers to search for solutions.

In some recalls for problems as serious as air bags that can spew shrapnel into drivers or fuel tanks that can rupture in a rear-end crash, completion rates are below 15 percent, six months or more after the recalls were announced.

These recalls involve millions of vehicles, challenging automakers to find both replacement parts and the cars’ owners. Regulators at times have fined automakers for dragging their feet.

Meanwhile, concerned car owners are left waiting for repairs and worrying about the safety of their vehicle.

So, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration chief Mark Rosekind asked for ideas Tuesday from auto companies and safety advocates on how to boost what he called unacceptable completion rates. On average, automakers fix 75 percent of cars covered by a recall in 18 months.

“We are looking for creative and innovative thinking, encouraging that kind of new idea that’s going to get us to 100 percent,” Rosekind told the group.

One case that troubles Rosekind is Takata Corp. In the past three years, 17 million vehicles have been recalled because air bag inflators made by the Japanese parts supplier can explode with too much force, blowing apart a metal canister. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, said Monday that the problem has caused six deaths and 105 injuries.

Honda, which is Takata’s largest customer, said it has fixed a little more than 1.5 million inflators out of 8.1 million being recalled – a completion rate of 19 percent. Some of the recalls date to 2013. Honda said the recalls are taking a long time because Takata has to get replacement air bags to 10 different automakers. Honda and Takata have lined up other suppliers to build inflators, and Takata says it has increased production.

But a lack of parts means Honda owners are being turned away by dealers, leaving some afraid to drive their vehicles.

Lynn Jones-Finn, a retired child welfare worker from Berkeley, Calif., has been driving her 2001 Honda Civic for 14 years without incident. She received a recall notice on March 31 and contacted her dealer in mid-April, only to be told parts weren’t available and wouldn’t be for at least three weeks.

“I’m disappointed in Honda because I trusted Honda,” she said. “I’m not happy they’re not moving to fix it when they say it could kill me.”

The dealer has since offered Jones-Finn a loaner car, which she plans to use. Honda says loaners are available to owners of recalled cars concerned for their safety.

This story was originally published April 29, 2015 at 7:59 PM with the headline "Safety agency seeks ideas on getting more recall fixes done."