Once again, there has been another massive automobile recall. This past week, Toyota recalled 270,000 Lexus and Crown cars around the world.

While the car-maker says no accidents have been reported so far, cars could stall when on the move. In Singapore, Borneo Motors says it will recall nearly 500 cars, though it told the media they are “safe to drive”.

The recalls have come fast and furious for nearly a year.

Toyota started the ball rolling when it recalled millions of cars to fix problems with stuck accelerator pedals and floor mats. Then, Honda staged a recall due to air bags. Next, it was brakes. Among the other recent problems were Lexus steering wheels.

Reports from the United States indicate that accelerator problems alone may have caused 89 deaths. The National Highway Transport and Safety Administration (NHTSA) came up with this number by analysing complaints from drivers.

Perhaps the bulk of the problems that caused the massive recalls in America and other countries have simply passed Singapore by. Many of the models affected in other markets weren’t sold in Singapore.

But if any of the models available here did have yet unreported defects, it would be difficult to know since there seems to be little visibility of consumer complaints and the reasons for accidents. Without data on complaints or defects, it’s hard to figure out the magnitude of any problem.

And when recalls are made here, there is also little information about whether car owners respond, and if the problems were fixed. Local consumers quickly seem to forget about automobile flaws that could be life or death issues.

Part of the reason for complacency could simply be the difficulty in locating information or making a complaint. If a driver did face a problem, the easiest thing should be to go to the car company itself. The past year seems to have shown, though, that auto companies may have been less than forthcoming about responding to consumers or reporting problems.

A search of Singapore websites where one might think to file a complaint or find data yields few results.

While the Land Transport Authority keeps reams of data on everything from vehicle registrations to inspections, and its OneMotoring portal has a slew of motoring news, advice and forms, what seems to be missing is information on how to report a potential vehicle defect, statistics on such complaints, and even any news about carmarkers’ recalls.

The Traffic Police’s website, meanwhile, shows the number of road fatalities decreasing — which is good — but again, how to file a complaint or find data on accidents isn’t readily apparent either.

Automobile dealers also don’t seem to list consumers complaints on their websites, beyond official safety advisories on recalled models.

Looking for information at consumer organisations yields a similar lack of results.

The Consumers Association of Singapore simply indicates that 10 per cent of its 21,872 complaints last year related to cars. The Automobile Association of Singapore just has links to other sites.

Of course, just reporting a problem to the authorities or consumer groups isn’t a panacea.

The NHTSA has faced severe criticism over its cosy relationship with the auto industry and its previous failure to probe car owners’ complaints. Only after the media spotlight was thrown on deaths resulting from automobile defects, was consumer data made available for analysis.

The result is that long-time problems have come under scrutiny: Along with recent NHTSA investigations, research by

So, how do we cast a more rigorous light on motor vehicle safety here? One option could be to create a complaints hotline or website where owners

If there are major issues, though, consumers would have a way to bring them to someone’s attention, potential safety issues could be identified earlier, and investigations would facilitated.

Lives hang in the balance.