Risk of Noncrash Fires Drops After Recalls

This article reports on a study by the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) investigating the differences in insurance losses due to non-crash fires in vehicles covered by safety recalls versus those not covered by safety recalls. HLDI found that the frequency of non-crash fire claims for 2007–17 model passenger vehicles recalled for a fire-related defect was 14% higher than the frequency of claims for vehicles without a recall. Claim frequency is expressed in claims per 10,000 insured vehicle years for non-crash fire recalls. For motorcycles, the frequency of non-crash fire claims was 18% higher than for comparable models without non-crash fire recalls. The study shows that much of the risk of a non-crash fire is reduced by a recall, but the risk is not entirely eliminated, in part because up to 25% of vehicles recalled do not get fixed. The article includes the url for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) vehicle identification number lookup tool (https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls), for consumers to check for recalls. Readers are also referred to two articles from the HLDI Bulletin regarding non-crash fire safety recall losses for automobiles and motorcycles (2007-2017) and non-crash fire insurance losses for the 2008-09 Smart ForTwo car.

• Record URL:
  • https://www.iihs.org/iihs/sr/statusreport/article/53/5/2
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/0018988X
• Publication Date: 2018-8-16

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Photos;
• Pagination: n.p.
• Serial:
  • Status Report
  • Volume: 53
  • Issue Number: 5
  • Publisher: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
  • ISSN: 0018-988X
  • Serial URL: https://www.iihs.org/status-report/

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Fire causes; Insurance claims; Miniature automobiles; Motorcycles; Recall campaigns; Vehicle safety
• Identifier Terms: Mercedes-Benz automobile; Smart forTwo
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01681666
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 24 2018 10:05AM