Federal safety regulators will put the “recall” label on all “safety-improvement campaigns” by automakers.
The internal change at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) affects those safety-related repairs that car companies perform on vehicles but may not meet the technical, legal definition of “safety recall.”
The change was made to protect motorists who miss notifications of safety-improvement campaigns, either because they overlook or don’t receive factory mailings or because they acquire or may acquire affected vehicles after the campaigns have been conducted.
