If you don’t remember to get your recalled vehicle fixed, what if some kindly bureaucrats came to the lot where you’re parked to remind you? That’s what employees of the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration and some auto manufacturers are doing this week. They’re on a tour that’s like a political campaign, but not asking people to vote: they’re asking motorists to repair their vehicles and install their child safety seats correctly.

This turns out to be a good idea. Reuters hung out at the stop in Miami, in a parking lot at Florida International University, where apparently students and faculty aren’t great about getting their recall repairs taken care of: about half of the cars checked had a pending recall issue that hadn’t been fixed yet.

“Shaking hands and kissing babies: our version is checking VINs, tires and car seats,” NHTSA administrator Mark Rosekind joked to reporters. That could be a little catchier: we suggest “checking tires and buckling babies.”

The road trip will tour southern states, where heat and humidity make it more likely that the inflators in airbags from Takata have degraded and pose the risk of rupturing and injuring or killing the occupants of the vehicle.

The tour is in Tampa and Tallahassee, FL today, and will hit Mobile, AL and New Orleans tomorrow, Houston and San Antonio, TX on Friday, and finish up in Fort Worth, TX on Saturday.

If they aren’t coming to your city, or you’d prefer not to leave your air-conditioned office, you can check for recalls on your vehicle yourself using either your car’s VIN or the make and model.

Auto safety chief hits America’s hot roads to push recall repairs [Reuters]
NHTSA Kicks-Off ‘Safe Cars Save Lives’ Bus Tour, August 9-13 [NHTSA]

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