How can you tell if your car has an open recall?

BOSTON (MyFoxBoston.com) - There are more than 46 million vehicles on the road across the country and 1 million of them are here in the commonwealth state.

So how sure do you know if the vehicle you're driving, or the one next to you, is safe?

Fox25's Daniel Miller looks at a new tool that works on-top of recalls and could help keep you on the road.

Christopher Basso with CarFax uses it. He opens an app on his iPad and inputs a license plate from the back of someone's vehicle. In a matter of seconds, he gets back information or a service report about the car, including when the vehicle last had an oil change. It also sends an alert if the car has an open-recall from the manufacturer.

But the driver of the car may never know, unless they received a notice and if the issue was fixed basso says this app would have confirmed that.

It's important for drivers to know when their car is under a recall because most involve a safety issue.

Basso says 1 in every 5 vehicles in Massachusetts is part of an open recall. To prove it, we went to the Braintree Mall where we found Andrea, who drives a 2011 Toyota Sienna. After putting in the van's license plate number, she was surprised to learn the vehicle was on a recall list involving tire pressure. The vehicle's manufacturer said she could be filling the tires with the incorrect pressure. If the tires are too high or too low, they could blow out.

Basso says it comes down to one thing when getting behind the wheel: your safety.

“Have you done everything you can do to make sure that car is safe; you husband, your wife, your kids leaving for school or work. Is that car safe,” Basso said.

You can also find out if your vehicle is on a recall list by calling your dealer.

Cox Media Group