Recall list options remain available from NHTSA.gov, other organizations
Readers should note a change in the format of recall information provided by NHTSA, which was brought to SRN’s attention by Sixtus Dominguez, CPST Proxy of the Albuquerque Area Indian Health Board Inc. (AAIHB) and Albuquerque Area Southwest Tribal Epidemiology Center (AASTEC) Tribal Injury Prevention Program (TIPP).
As reported in the last issue of SRN, NHTSA’s SaferCar.gov website was discontinued earlier this year. Entering “www.SaferCar.gov” in a browser now pulls up a NHTSA.gov page that lists links to other NHTSA.gov pages where users can find some of the information formerly available on the defunct site, including recalls.
Although NHTSA.gov still provides information on all recalls and is the ultimate authority on that information, Dominguez contacted SRN because he found that a particular recall resource that he’d used on the SaferCar.gov site was no longer available: a list of all CR-related recalls for the past 10 years. The list of recalls, maintained and regularly updated by the Recall Management Division of NHTSA, was arranged in alphabetical order by brand, so looking up recalls was easy when doing checkups.
Being able to refer to a list of recalls is useful for many CPSTs. While the look-up functions on NHTSA’s website and recall app are handy in many situations, Dominguez explained that these resources aren’t reliably accessible for his team, which typically works in settings where internet connectivity is poor (a situation that’s common in the CPS field). Therefore, he makes it a point to supply his CPSTs with a complete hardcopy list by printing out the most up-to-date version for every checkup.
Dominguez had bookmarked the SaferCar.gov list so he could easily refer to it every week or so, but with the discontinuation of SaferCar.gov, the bookmark stopped working. When he couldn’t find the same list anywhere on the NHTSA.gov site, he contacted NHTSA and was told that the exact list he formerly accessed was no longer available.
Creating a list on NHTSA.gov
Most CPSTs likely know how to look up recalls by brand/model at NHTSA.gov (from the homepage, select Recalls and then Car Seats). But they may not realize that it’s also possible to create a recall list on NHTSA.gov by using a tool at https://www.nhtsa.gov/search-safety-issues#recall. Although the list format is different than the one formerly available on SaferCar.gov, creating a current recall list in the new format may be helpful to CPSTs working in certain situations.
To navigate to the tool from the NHTSA.gov homepage:
- Click on Recalls from the menu.
- Scroll down the page and click a box that says “Resources.”
- Select Data Downloads and FAQs.
- Click the “+” sign next to Recall FAQs.
- Click the link under the FAQ “Where can I find a list of recalls by product type?”
Using the tool, select “child seats” under product type and apply any period of time (such as 10 years) to get a listing of all CR recalls from that time period. The list is presented in a collapsed format, so it initially shows only a brief problem summary for each recall. To see the details of a recall, users must click the “+” next to its description. Since a recent search found 40 CR recalls posted over the last 10 years, preparing a list that provided all the details required 44 clicks. (Tip: If the goal is to click all “+” signs, scrolling to the end of the list and working backward through each entry makes this job easier.) Once all recalls are open, the complete list (31 pages in the recent search) can be printed.
While, overall, this list contains the information formerly available on the SaferCar.gov list, it’s in a format that’s not user-friendly for checkups. Recalls are listed chronologically by problem, rather than alphabetically by brand, so it’s more difficult to look up a particular CR for recalls. A user with time and energy to spare could copy the list to a document, like Word, and then cut/paste the checks into alphabetical order. However, this effort would be quite time-consuming and unrealistic for most people to undertake on a regular basis.
Other recall lists available
Fortunately, there are alternatives to getting a recall list directly from NHTSA. Three other lists have been maintained by reliable organizations for decades. Like the former safercar.gov list, all three lists are kept up to date and include all recalls from the past 10 years in an easy-to-search format that’s alphabetical by manufacturer.
SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A. (SBS USA): Go to www.carseat.org and select Recalls and Replacement Parts.
Safe Ride News Publications (SRN): Go to www.saferidenews.com and look under Resources/Tools for CPSTs.
University of North Carolina Highway Safety Resource Center (UNC HSRC): Go to www.buckleupnc.org and select Car Seat Recall List.
All three lists can be accessed for free, and SRN and UNC HSRC’s lists may be printed for free, as well. (Only current SBS USA members at the Supporting/Community Organization level can print/distribute that organization’s list.) Each of the lists has a unique layout and set of features.
For instance, the UNC HSRC list is numbered and includes a handy index by CR model number that provides another lookup method.
The SBS USA list names both recalled models and all models that are not recalled for each brand. This format was developed to make lookup errors less likely, since a CPST should be able to look up a model and find a clear indication of whether or not it has been recalled.
The SRN list, originally developed by the Washington State Safety Restraint Coalition, has a four-column layout, so the recalls fit onto only four pages. Thanks to a suggestion by CPST-I Maureen Johnson from Vermont, SRN’s list indicates when an included recall from the past 10 years applies only to CRs that have since expired. (However, this list should not be used as a substitute for checking to see if a CR is expired using the typical method).
All three organizations offer a way to be notified by email when a recall is added to their list. SRN and UNC HSRC both keep a separate archive list, as well, maintaining a historical record of all CR recalls that occurred over 10 years ago.
Readers are encouraged to check out all three lists to see which one best meets their needs. Whichever recall list is selected—whether from NTHSA or one of these three organizations—it is a good idea to review its layout and ensure all team members know how to properly use the list. While it is easy to assume techs will know how to search a paper list, there are nuances that are important to understand. Each list provides usage information at the top to help guide users.