Keeping Drivers Safe – How to Locate “Missing” Drivers for Vehicle Recalls With Big Data

With any technology, there is a risk of mechanical failure. Unfortunately, in the case of automotive technology, failures can mean billions of dollars lost for auto manufacturers, and in the worst cases injury and even death for consumers. Since the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act was enacted in 1966, more than 390 million cars, trucks, buses, recreational vehicles, motorcycles, and mopeds have been recalled to correct safety defects. Auto companies average 200 safety related and compliance recalls every year, and in 2015 vehicle recalls hit a record high of almost 64 million vehicles. This number more than twice surpassed the 2004 record of 30.8 million.

Auto manufacturer General Motors swept the news last year with their recall due to faulty ignition switches, which cost the company $4.1 Billion in repair costs and victim compensations. When these situations arise it is imperative that all affected consumers are informed quickly of the recall in order to get dangerous vehicles off the roadways to keep commuters safe.  A recall is not only a financial hardship for auto manufacturers, but also a detriment to their brand reputation. The quicker and more efficiently a manufacturer handles a recall situation can save face for their brand image.

Contacting every consumer affected by a vehicle recall is easier said than done. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that at least 1/3 of the millions of vehicles recalled every year go unrepaired. This can be due to consumers not taking the recall seriously, or deciding that taking the vehicle in for repair is too much of an inconvenience, but more often than not the consumer never learns of the recall.

Research shows that newer recalled cars are repaired at much higher rates than older cars because older cars are more likely to have had multiple owners. The complexity of the automotive supply cycle only adds to this problem. As the car progresses to its third, fourth, or even fifth owner any link to the original sale, and therefore original data collected by the dealership, is broken.  A 2014 CarFax study suggested that roughly one in seven cars on the road have an unrepaired safety recall, putting both the car owners and drivers around them at risk.

How Big Data is Keeping the Roads Safe

One way the automotive industry is battling these odds is by leveraging Big Data services and “follow-the-car” processes to obtain accurate, comprehensive records of current vehicle ownership based on VIN numbers. The “follow-the-car” strategy tracks vehicle interactions from the moment it leaves the dealer’s lot to the moment it enters the scrap yard to provide a comprehensive view of the vehicles’ service and ownership history. Information from sales and maintenance can be integrated with consumer files to present an up-to-date profile of the car with accurate owner contact information.

The ability to quickly inform consumers of recalled vehicles is not only convenient for manufacturers, it can save lives.  The faulty ignition switches in the GM recall of 2014 is tied to 51 deaths   and a 2009 power steering wheel recall by Toyota resulted in 16 deaths.  These deaths may have been avoided if the consumers were fully aware of the risk they were facing. In a major auto recall media outlets will almost always make an announcement to alert consumers, but even this may not be enough. The most traditional means of contact in a recall situation is direct mail which is only effective if the information from the VIN database is appended with a quality consumer address database.

Data decays at an average rate of 2% per month for countless reasons such as moving, switching phone services, and name changes. Even the DMV often lacks reliable, updated records due to data decay as they don’t practice a follow-the-car or follow-the-customer strategy.  When the stakes are high, manufacturers employ Data-as-a-Service solutions to vet addresses and integrate siloed data to give mailings the best chance at reaching consumers.

Another way for manufacturers to alert consumers of recalls makes use of social data. Despite new mandatory labels to help owners clearly identify recall mailings, many consumers ignore direct mail notices or simply forget to take their cars in after receiving the correspondence. Comprehensive consumer profiles allow manufactures to target affected consumers by launching ads to social sites to remind consumers about the recall.

Although there is no guarantee that we’ll see the end of automotive recalls any time soon, it is certain that Big Data and Data-as-a-Service solutions are improving manufacturers’ methods for informing consumers and keeping drivers safer in the process.

To learn how to locate car owners to complete a vehicle recall, click here to learn about our automotive VIN marketing data solutions.

Image Sources:

http://thumbnail.newsinc.com/25690704.sf.jpg

http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/22/politics/gm-recall-inspector-general-report-failings/

http://readwrite.com/2012/08/21/u-michigan-launches-worlds-biggest-sandbox-for-wi-fi-connected-cars