The men and women who serve in the United States Army protect us every day. It’s only fair that we make sure those same men and women are protected whenever they get behind the wheel.
More than 1 in 5 vehicles on the road today have open, unrepaired safety recalls. Many of those recalls pose serious risks to drivers and passengers, and could lead to injury and even death. A well-known example is the Takata airbag recall. When exposed over time to heat and humidity, recalled airbags can transform from life-saving devices into life-threatening ones. Even in a minor crash, a defective airbag can rupture and shoot sharp metal fragments into the vehicle. There are still tens of millions of vehicles on the road today with unrepaired, defective airbags.
The Check To Protect campaign offers a free, easy way for anyone to check their recall status. Users simply visit www.CheckToProtect.org and enter their 17 character Vehicle Identification Number to learn whether they have a defective part on their vehicle that requires a free repair.
The men and women of the Army are more likely to have an unrepaired recall on their vehicle without realizing it.
Let’s say a recall is issued on a vehicle for a potentially dangerous safety issue. The next step is for that automaker to reach out and let the vehicle owner know about the recall so they can make a free repair. However, it’s not always that simple.
Let’s say someone in the Army has moved in recent years. The automaker might inadvertently send the recall notice to that person’s previous address.
Or let’s say someone in the Army drives a used vehicle. The automaker might inadvertently send the recall notice to the previous owner of the vehicle.
Or maybe the notice did arrive to your address, but it got lost in the mound of junk mail and you never saw the urgent message about something being wrong with your vehicle.
Check To Protect allows Army members to proactively check their recall status rather than waiting for an official notice to arrive. In addition to the search bar on the website, anyone also can check their recall status by texting the word “RECALL” to 99724 – or, in Spanish, “REVISA” to 99724 – and follow the steps to confirm their recall status.
If you have a safety recall, reach out to your closest dealer to schedule your free repair. It doesn’t matter if you’re a regular customer. The repair appointment will always be free.
A safety recall – even one as dangerous as the recalled airbag – may feel like a comparatively minor risk, but it’s a risk you can quickly eliminate.
If you can help us spread the word on Army bases, please let us know. We have a host of free materials – from social media assets and e-newsletter articles to video PSAs and posters. We would love to share these materials and discuss other opportunities for spreading the word and checking vehicles. Please reach out to [email protected] for more information.
Thank you for keeping us safe every day. We want to make sure you’re safe, too.