A Rise in Vehicle Recalls [AUDIO]

Keys falling from ignitions; dashboards catching fire, these are just two of the many vehicle defects that has resulted in recalls by General Motors this year. And they're not the only ones.  

Jackie Gillian, president of Washington-based Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety said there's good and bad news about all of these recalls.

"GM is coming forth and recalling vehicles that are defective, and I think the other auto manufacturers are taking note," Gillian said.

Gillian also said public awareness about vehicle defects has been greatly increased.

"You can't sit on this information for 10 years and put people's lives at stake and not come forward and be honest about it," She said.

However, Gillian said the bad news is there are millions of vehicles on the road that have something wrong with them.

Industry-wide, 20 million vehicles have been recalled so far in 2014. According to federal figures, the record for a year of recalls was 2004, when the auto industry had to call back 31 million cars and trucks.  But those recall numbers had been declining in the years after that.  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said there were about 22 million vehicle recalls in 2013.