motorcycle accident San Antonio Personal Injury LawyerIf you have questions about a motorcycle recall involving your motorcycle, contact your San Antonio personal injury lawyer for a consultation. Consumer products are recalled quite frequently. Sometimes those products are motor vehicles. Many will remember a few years ago when Toyota vehicles experienced a serious safety issue and had to recall some of their product line. When a company finds a dangerous flaw in their product, they are responsible to notify the public and fix the issue. This is called a recall. The following information from your San Antonio personal injury lawyer discusses how a recall works, what is to be expected if your vehicle is recalled, how to find out if there is a recall for your vehicle, and what to do if the company who manufactured your vehicle refuses to fix the issue. If you have any further questions about recalls, contact your San Antonio personal injury lawyer for a consultation.

What Is a Safety Recall?

Any vehicle, including a car or motorcycle, can experience a safety defect. Typically a safety defect is found by the manufacturer of the vehicle or when consumers have called to complain to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about the defects. Once the safety defect in the vehicle is discovered, it is the manufacturer’s responsibility to notify consumers about the safety issues and to give them the opportunity to have it fixed free of charge. The federal government is in charge of regulating safety recalls. Legally, a safety recall is defined by the following factors:

  • the issue that is affecting the vehicle poses a safety risk
  • the defect is found in a group of vehicles that are either made by the same manufacturer or designed the same

As your San Antonio personal injury lawyer will tell you, if the defect is not directly impacting the safety of the vehicle, then by law the manufacturer is not required to recall that vehicle. You may be able to file for a product liability lawsuit or claim. This is something that your San Antonio personal injury lawyer can help you with.

The Process of a Safety Recall

If a safety recall of a vehicle is issued by the government or by the manufacturer, it is the manufacturer’s responsibility to alert the owner of the vehicle of the recall. There are certain steps that the manufacturer must legally take when a recall is issued. First, they must file a public report about the safety defect. They must also try to find any owners who were affected by the issue and send out letters notifying the vehicle owners of the recall. When filing a public report, the manufacturer must include the year, make, and model of the vehicle as well as the following information:

  • when the recall is scheduled to take place
  • what happened to warrant a recall of the vehicle
  • what the defect is and why it is a safety issue
  • what the manufacturer is going to do to repair the defect

When a recall takes place, the government requires that the manufacturer takes the proper steps to find all owners of that vehicle to alert them of the safety recall. It is the manufacturer’s responsibility to find all registered owners of the vehicles that are being recalled. The manufacturer must also notify any of their distributors of the recall so that they can notify any customers who have purchased that vehicle. The manufacturer is also responsible for sending out a letter to all owners of the vehicle. This letter must include a description of the safety defect, what the free repair will consist of, when the owner can expect to have the repair done, how long it will take to fix the issue, and what rights the owner has if the manufacturer does not repair the issue in a reasonable amount of time and without charge to the owner.

What Rights the Owner Has If the Manufacturer Does Not Comply with the Recall

It is up to the manufacturer to comply with the recall in a timely fashion and without charge to the owner. If the manufacturer does not comply in a timely fashion, or tries to charge you for the repairs, then your San Antonio personal injury lawyer can help you to take steps against the manufacturer. The following are steps that you may also take before contacting your San Antonio personal injury lawyer:

  • The first step to solving this issue would be to contact the service manager at the dealership where you purchased your vehicle. Show the service manager the letter your received about the recall and ask for their help
  • If the service manager is unable to help you, the next step would be to contact the manufacturer directly. Tell the manufacturer about the letter you received, what type of vehicle you have, and what happened when you contact the service manager of the dealership.
  • Contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration after going through the first two steps. You can contact them either by phone or by mail. You could also visit the NHTSA’s website to fill out a form.

What to Do If Your Car Has a Defect But No Recall Has Been Issued

If you have found a defect in your car but no recall has been issued for it, you may still be able to get some help with the problem. The first thing to do is to check to see if your vehicle is still under the warranty period. If so, then the problem will be corrected free of charge to you under the warranty conditions. If the defect in your vehicle is not safety-related, you may be able to file a product liability claim in order to recover some of the money you spent on repairs for the issue. These lawsuits are not a government issue, but rather a private one.

How to Find Out If Your Vehicle Has a Recall

If you suspect that your vehicle has a safety issue but you have not receive a letter from the manufacturer, there are other ways you can check to see if there is a recall issued. The best thing to do would be to contact the NHTSA to find out. The NHTSA has records of all vehicles that have been recalled, as well as any investigations regarding the vehicle. You can check with the NHTSA for recalls by either calling their Office of Defects, checking out their list of recalled vehicles online, or by reading the defective reports that are published on their website. If your vehicle has a safety issue but is not on the list for recall, let the NHTSA now about the issue.

Schedule a Consultation with a San Antonio Personal Injury Lawyer

If you need help from an experienced professional, contact your San Antonio personal injury lawyer for a consultation today from Brylak Law at (210) 372-8111. Brylak Law has the San Antonio personal injury lawyer who will help you fight for your rights and to get the best possible outcome in your case.