NHTSA Wants to Boost Recall Completion Rates
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has begun an initiative to improve what it calls "unacceptably low" recall completion rates for safety defects on vehicles.

Photo courtesy of NHTSA
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has begun an initiative to improve what it calls "unacceptably low" recall completion rates for safety defects on vehicles.
The agency brought together safety advocates, automotive industry representatives and transportation officials for a workshop on on the topic, according to NHTSA. Research shows that defective cars only get repaired by consumers two-thirds of the time.
One catalyst for the discussion comes from the massive recall on defective Takata airbag inflators. Even with the record-breaking number of recalls, drivers are failing to take them in for repair. Executive Vice President of American Honda John Mendel explains the lack of interest is due to "recall fatigue," stated in a Consumer Reports article. In 2014, NHTSA saw the highest number of vehicle recalls in more than three decades. There were 803 vehicle recalls involving 63.9 million vehicles, including two of the ten largest vehicle recalls in history.

Photo courtesy of NHTSA
Automakers are trying to stress the importance of getting your recalled vehicle fixed with new marketing strategies. General Motors redesigned mailings with different imagery and also promoted on YouTube and Yahoo! and offered loaner cars, according to a Bloomberg report.
“While NHTSA has worked hard to improve our processes for identifying vehicle safety defects, simply identifying problems isn’t enough. To keep Americans safe, the problems we find have to get fixed,” said NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind. “Recent high-profile recalls have taught us important lessons about the obstacles to higher completion rates, and we brought everyone to the table to help spread those lessons and develop new approaches to the recall process.”
More Safety

NETS Sets 2026 Fleet Safety Benchmark Conference for Indianapolis
The Sept. 15–17 program will feature fleet benchmarking data, case studies, emerging technologies, and implementation strategies while running alongside the NSC Safety Congress & Expo.
Read More →
Off-the-Job Crashes Account for 43% of Employers’ $61.7 Billion Crash Burden
NETS quantifies costs dispersed across fleet, risk, HR, and other departments while providing new per-crash benchmarks for employers.
Read More →
Ram Recalls More Than 1.27 Million 1500 Pickups for Seat Belt Anchor Issue
The recall affects certain 2019-2026 Ram 1500 pickups that may have improperly attached second-row seat belt buckle anchors.
Read More →
Top 50 Executive Fleets
It is that time of year again! Time for the 2026 list of the Top 50 Executive Fleets, presented by Automotive Fleet and Volvo as part of its annual Fleet 500. Download now to see this year's list of companies!
Read More →How Better Visibility Cut Speeding Violations by 48%
Fleet leaders don't need more data, they need clearer visibility into what the data is saying. This case study explores how one utility replaced speeding-event counts with a single metric — miles driven in violation — to strengthen safety and significantly reduce speeding violations.
Read More →
Operation Safe Driver Week: Why the Industry's Oldest Safety Campaign Still Matters to Fleets
A look at how a 2007 enforcement initiative became one of the most consequential weeks on the fleet safety calendar, and what it means for your drivers in 2026.
Read More →
Nexar-Nauto Merger Aims to Give Fleets Better Safety Intelligence Through Larger Driving Dataset
Stefan Heck tells Automotive Fleet that combining more than 10 billion miles of driving history with Nexar's AI models will give fleets deeper insights into driver risk and roadway conditions than either company could provide independently.
Read More →From Silos to Solutions: Relationship Management for Safer Fleets
From telematics adoption and driver accountability to policy consistency and risk mitigation, this episode breaks down what it really takes to build a safer fleet culture without slowing business down.
Read More →
IIHS Launches First Commercial Vehicle Safety Evaluations
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has begun evaluating heavy-duty pickups and cargo vans for driver protection. Which models earned top marks?
Read More →
Reducing Risk by Eliminating Phone Use Behind the Wheel
Hosted with the cofounder of Lifesaver Mobile, this episode addresses phone use behind the wheel and how to design a driving environment that actually helps prevents accidents.
Read More →