UK recall system 'puts drivers at risk'

26 February 2007

Call to improve response rate to recalls
Recalls should be flagged up at any MoT test
Current system said to be inconsistent

Stephen Ladyman will respond to recall concerns

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Motorists are at risk from the UK's safety recall system, which needs a thorough overhaul, a leading fleet operations director has said.

According to Lloyds TSB Autolease operations director David Kershaw, the current voluntary system of recalling cars with potentially dangerous defects is inconsistent and is putting 160,000 drivers at risk of injury or death. Kershaw has made the claim in an open letter to transport minister Stephen Ladyman.

Kershaw says the recall system needs to be standardised so that its response rate of 91.47% can be improved.

'Many within the motor industry have simply not appreciated the severe implications of the current situation. Tragically, there has been at least one fatality on UK roads that has resulted directly from a failure to adequately communicate vehicle recalls with drivers.'

Kershaw says some manufacturers aren't registering recalls with the Government's Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA), and that methods of getting in touch with drivers are patchy. He says some recall notices fail to highlight the full nature of the recall, while garages also don't have access to the VOSA database of recalls online.

The fleet operations director suggests to Ladyman that a better-integrated system could alert drives taking their car in for an MoT test, while number plate-reading cameras on petrol forecourts could even be linked into the system.

The Department for Transport has made no comment at this stage, but said that Ladyman would respond to Kershaw's concerns.

While the 8.53% miss rate on recalls in 2005 does represent 160,000 cars, the UK's voluntary system is still one of the most effective in the world, beating legislated systems in the US and Japan.