WASHINGTON (WUSA9) — A WUSA9 investigation has found taxis regularly ignore recall warnings, possibly putting people in real danger.
An open recall is a known defect that hasn’t been fixed.
The scope is enormous. Last year, 30 million cars in the U.S. were affected by a new recall.
They can cause a range of issues, from problems with power windows to airbags that expel deadly shrapnel.
Here’s what you might not know: failing to fix recalls is a systemic problem.
The district inspects taxis every year and inspection reports tell drivers about recalls. But, there are no laws that say anyone has to fix a recall before hitting the road.
That surprised the WUSA9 investigative unit, so they wanted to find out how many cabs have open recalls.
The investigative unit teamed up with Carfax, a vehicle history company, and spent months checking every single cab.
The Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN) for more than 400 vehicles in the Department of For-Hire Vehicle database were either too short, attached to incorrect vehicles, or couldn’t be processed.
WUSA9 found of the roughly 5,400 checked D.C. cabs, almost 900 have at least one open recall. That means if you take six cabs a week, one of them could have an open recall.
The issues could possibly pose a deadly risk like airbags that explode and send shrapnel flying.
Other problems included faulty ignition switches and steering wheels that may detach.
Some of the recalls were more than eight years old.
WUSA9 took the investigation to Jason Levine of the Center for Auto safety.
“I mean think about would you, if there were a sign and two cabs passed by and one cab said ‘open recall’ and one said ‘no recalls’ which would you pick,” he said. “I think sort of common sense tells you probably the one without the recalls, understandably so.”
So who is responsible for fixing recalls?
From the manufacturer’s perspective, whoever owns or leases the car should get the recall fixed.
From the District’s perspective: no one is responsible.
Again, there’s no law that says taxi owners, or anyone, must fix a recall.
“These are safety concerns, so the thing to be concerned about is why isn’t there,” Levine said. “There is a taxi commission that is designed for exactly this purpose. Why not go ahead and get that extra step?”
WUSA9 hoped to ask that question to the agencies that oversee taxis, and spent months trying to arrange an interview.
RELATED: How to stay aware of vehicle recalls
In the end, the Department of For-Hire Vehicles and the Department of Motor Vehicles declined to talk to WUSA9 on camera.
One spokesman repeatedly pointed out more people are taking ride-sharing services, so we took our questions to Lyft and Uber to find out if they ask their drivers to fix dangerous defects.
Lyft said the following in an email:
Neville Waters, a spokesman for the Department of For-Hire Vehicles told WUSA9 in an email the agency is rewriting the code that governs for-hire vehicles. Waters would not say if the agency is considering regulations prohibiting for-hire vehicles with open recalls from operating.
"Drivers have a strong personal incentive to make sure their car is in a safe operating condition."
The company did not say they require drivers to complete all recalls.
WUSA9 caught up with Uber's CEO at a recent news conference.
When asked if Uber has any idea how many drivers are driving for Uber in vehicles with open recalls, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said "I actually don't know."
“It's a great point and something we will look into.” He added that it’s “something [they] will do going forward.”
Failing to fix recalls extends well beyond the District.
The National Highway Safety Administration says almost 30 percent of vehicles on the road have an open recall.
Some jurisdictions take the risk seriously. A spokesman for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority told WUSA9 in an email the city requires taxi drives to fix recalls before picking up passengers.
A federal law enacted in 2016 prohibits rental car companies with more than 35 vehicles from renting cars with open recalls.
