The 63,000 spectators crowded in late January inside Atlanta’s Georgia Dome for a battle of college marching bands didn’t know they’d also be schooled in auto safety.
Between the Lincoln University Orange Crush Roaring Lions and the Bethune Cookman Marching Wildcats, event sponsor Honda Motor Co. flashed an alert on the stadium scoreboards. It listed 11 Honda and Acura models that need to have air bags replaced because they can malfunction and spray potentially lethal shards of metal into the vehicle.
Automakers, facing stiff fines for lackluster recall completion rates, are going to new lengths to reach owners of the millions of cars with known safety defects that remain on the road. Honda has even hired private detectives to track down owners of older vehicles. In addition to mailing the standard notification letters, General Motors Co. has advertised recalls on Yahoo!, YouTube and Pandora.
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