This week’s announcement by supplier Takata Corporation of its expanded airbag-related recall that doubled the number of potential vehicles at risk from 17 to 34 million is wreaking havoc with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website. NHTSA says that visits to its vehicle-identification number page hit 598,000 following Takata’s statement – up from the normal 9,662 per-day average and more than five times the previous daily record. That massive upsurge in activity by owners checking to see if their vehicles were part of the expanded recall ended up crippling access to the site and regulators say it could take several days before the database page is once again fully accessible. NHTSA spokesman, Gordon Trowbridge indicated the organization is working closely with automakers to provide full information as quickly as possible and urged people to be patient.
