California Lemon Law Lawyer Blog

Whenever a manufacturer initiates a recall, they always say it is "voluntary." However, there is no such thing as a voluntary recall at least when safety is involved. Writing in the NY Times, Christoper Jensen reports that automakers have no choice but to recall vehicles that have safety defects. Jensen quotes Allan Kam, a safety consultant in Bethesda, Md., who once worked at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, on this point. Mr Kam said it is like saying I voluntarily paid my income tax,”

The federal safety act requires car manufacturers to notify N.H.T.S.A. and consumers and conduct a recall when there is a safety defect.

“They really have no choice,” said Clarence Ditlow, the executive director of the Center for Auto Safety.

In recent years, advanced safety features often appeared first in luxury cars. But these features are now available in economy cars. For example, the Chevrolet Cruze, that starts at $17,000, offers 10 airbags, stability control and a host of other safety gear that not long ago would have been remarkable even for a Mercedes. In today's edition, the WSJ's Joseph White explain that if you went shopping for an affordable compact car in 1994, you would find the Chevy Cavalier with no airbags, no electronic stability control, and a price somewhere around $12,000 (about the same price as the Cruze adjusted for inflation).

The Hyundai Elantra, Honda Civic and Ford Fiesta have a half dozen or more airbags. Electronic stability control is common in lower price cars, including the Ford Focus and Toyota Corolla. High strength steel is used to dissipate crash forces.

Stability control, a computer-controlled brake system that prevents a car from lurching into a sideways skid, first appeared Mercedes-Benz and BMW cars. More cars have this feature available and the government mandated it for 2012 cars.