NHTSA unveils VIN-lookup tool for searching recalls.

In ongoing coverage of NHTSA’s new online search tool for drivers to look up automotive recalls by VIN, the Peninsula (WA) Daily News (8/24, 41K) reports that NHTSA’s “program comes as manufacturers are recalling millions more vehicles than at any other time in U.S. history, about 46 million vehicles so far this year,” or about “1 of every 5 cars in the U.S.” Plus, consumers can check their recalls on NHTSA’s smartphone app Safercar. As acting NHTSA Administrator David Friedman said, recalled vehicles “can sometimes be sold or rented to someone who is completely unaware of that recall...In many cases that can put an owner’s life at risk, and risk the safety of others on America’s roads.”

        WITI-TV Milwaukee (8/23, 98K) reported from its website with similar coverage, noting NHTSA’s phrase “recall fatigue.”