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Boat Recall Registry Information
by Steve McCadams
To make it easier for marine manufacturers to let boat owners know
about mandated defect recalls and to increase the number of boat
owners who are notified about them, BoatU.S. has launched the BoatU.S.
National Recall Alert Registry, the first of its kind in the
nation.
Federal boat manufacturing laws require marine manufacturers to
recall
defective boats and marine engines if they don't comply with U.S. Coast
Guard regulations or when they contain safety defects discovered within
five years of the construction date. The laws also require
that companies exercise "reasonable diligence" in maintaining
lists of original owners, but the system does not always work.
"When boats or marine engines are recalled for safety
reasons, owners need to know about it," said Caroline
Ajootian, BoatU.S. director of consumer affairs. "But
manufacturers' records on boat owners are often incomplete, especially
on used boats, so consumers may never be notified when safety defects
are discovered. Owners may fail to return warranty cards or notify the
company when they sell their boats, and the laws don't require that
companies keep up-to-date records of subsequent owners," she said.
In order to help manufacturers find "lost" boat owners,
owners can now
register their boats at www.BoatUS.com/recall.
They do not have to be members of BoatU.S. to take advantage of
this service. To protect their privacy, each owner will have
a unique password. Manufacturers will be assigned passwords allowing
them to access records only of the boats they build. To date, more
than 95,000 owner records are in the registry database.
In addition, to give boat owners an easy way to keep track of new
recalls, BoatU.S. will post defect recall notices as they are
published by the U.S. Coast Guard. The Coast Guard oversees how boats
are built in the United States and has the authority to require
companies to initiate recalls. The Coast Guard's entire recall database
is also available at
www.uscgboating.org.
"Given the increased national concern over product recalls,
we think the BoatU.S. National Recall Alert Registry will make a
big difference in the number of boaters who are notified if
something goes wrong with their boats, especially if it's
potentially dangerous," said Ajootian. "We
encourage all boat owners to sign up and to keep their postal and email
addresses and phone numbers updated so the system stays current."
With 515,000 members, BoatU.S. is the nation's largest
organization of
recreational boaters.
The information above is
compiled by outdoor writer
Steve McCadams
Steve is a professional hunting and fishing guide
here in the Paris
Landing area and host of the The Outdoor Channel's television series
IN-PURSUIT.
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