85,000 cars on NC roads in urgent need of recall repairs

There’s a chance the car driving next to you on the highway has an urgent recall that hasn’t been fixed.

Many of these are cars are considered too dangerous to drive, but CARFAX estimates 85,000 of them are on North Carolina roads. That’s the ninth most of any state in the U.S.

These are not your average recall, they are rare warnings about problems that could directly lead to accidents and people getting hurt.

5 On Your Side recently told viewers about one of them, a "Do Not Drive" warning for 90,000 BMW’s built between 2000 and 2006 that still have recalled Takata Airbags in them. Those airbags can kill someone if they go off, even in a minor crash.

"Lots of people live in apartment complexes, lots of people live in condominiums, or townhomes where one goes up and others can go up as well," explained Patrick Olsen of CARFAX.

Despite serious, and in some cases repeated warnings to get free repairs done, 2.5 million cars across the country have one of these serious defects that have not been fixed.

"I think consumers at some level, have stopped listening," Olsen told 5 On Your Side. "I think part of the problem is recall notices are delivered by first class mail, which is not the primary means of communication as it once was. Secondly, I think some consumers see these notices, they think that it’s some kind of marketing scam."

There are a few things you can do to find out if your car has an open recall or if one is issued: