Background The TREAD Act of 2000 empowered NHTSA to expand its sources of information about potential vehicle defects in order to strengthen and expedite the process of discovering, investigating and remedying defects. By 2002, NHTSA had established an Early Warning Reporting (EWR) system whereby vehicle and equipment manufacturers notify the agency when they receive claims about potential defects resulting in fatality, injury or property-damage crashes, consumer complaints, warranty damage claims, and safety recalls in other countries. Manufacturers began sending quarterly EWR reports in 2003. The majority of recall campaigns are voluntary, initiated by manufacturers. NHTSA anticipates that the additional information generated with EWR will enable manufacturers to identify needs for voluntary recalls more thoroughly and promptly.

ObjectiveReview the voluntary and NHTSA-initiated recall campaigns since the implementation of EWR and find out in what proportion of them NHTSA or a manufacturer used data from EWR as a primary or secondary source for triggering the investigation. Compare recall campaigns before and after EWR in terms of: number of campaigns per year, number of vehicles or parts recalled per year, percent voluntary vs. NHTSA-initiated recalls, average time from manufacture till NHTSA or a manufacturer learns about a potential defect, average time from initial notification to implementation of the recall campaign.

Proposed Approach Statistical analyses of databases compiled and maintained by the Office of Defects Investigation, NHTSA. The evaluation may require 2-3 years or more until sufficient case histories accumulate for a definitive, final report; the agency may possibly also issue an interim report.