Car and Driver: The danger of keyless ignitions

[fishwax]

97. I think it would have quickly diminishing returns beyond raising awareness

We're not talking about a catastrophic failure that would affect you or other drivers on the road (like, say, the goodyear tire recall) or a failure of a safety device one counts on in an uncontrollable emergency (like an airbag recall), but rather an issue that can be prevented with more attention and care. My vehicle has an automatic turnoff and I don't have a garage anyway, so the situation doesn't really apply to me. But if it did apply and I got such a notice of a recall, I'm not sure I would follow through on it. I would likely say "that's something good to be extra cautious of." The effort required to attend to the situation on my own going forward would be a better investment for me than the effort of following the steps for the recall, possibly being without my car for a time, etc. I would imagine that many people, if informed of a recall of their vehicle for a similar situation, might react similarly. I'm not an expert on the logistics of recalls, or anything, so it's all speculation on my part of course. But it just doesn't seem the best tool for this job.

Perhaps I've just missed it, but I haven't seen any consumer advocacy groups calling for a recall for this, but there were plenty calling for manufacturers to address the issue. Those efforts have produced good results wrt manufacturers, but as I said before I'm not sure the legal regulations ever made it out of congress.