This week has been designated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as Vehicle Safety Recalls Week and CARFAX is all in.

The provider of vehicle history reports said the search tool it built with the Alliance for Automotive Innovation has been used to check vehicles in the U.S. for unfixed recalls nearly eight billion times since its launch in 2018, raising consumer awareness and helping increase road safety.

The Vehicle Recall Search Service has helped state motor vehicle, public safety and inspection departments and other entities to lead the effort to check vehicles, identifying millions of cars with unresolved recalls.

Currently, the Vehicle Recall Search Service is used by DMVs in California, New York, Ohio, Arizona, Texas, Connecticut, Maryland, Washington and Puerto Rico to check a vehicle’s recall status during the registration and titling process or through the safety and/or emissions inspection process. If an open recall is identified, they notify the vehicle owner.

In a news release, CARFAX said Ohio, which began using the tool in 2021, has identified more than 7.2 million recalls for its drivers.

Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles registrar Charlie Norman said his state’s individualized notification of open recalls at registration renewal has led to 2 million recalls being repaired.

“In light of this week’s Vehicle Safety Recalls Week, we hope more states recognize the tool’s incredible potential to protect drivers,” CARFAX vice president of data Faisal Hasan said. “This tool can ensure more vehicles are checked regularly, increasing driver safety and helping the vehicle manufacturers close recalls.”

CARFAX data shows one in five cars in the U.S. currently have an unfixed recall, which can significantly raise the risk of unexpected incidents on the road.

Safety recalls can include critical safety features such as airbags and seatbelts.

“When drivers are aware of vehicle recalls, road safety increases,” Alliance for Automotive Innovation president and CEO John Bozzella said. “That’s why we built this safety tool with CARFAX nearly seven years ago.

“Eight billion vehicles have now been checked. Additional participation from vehicle inspection programs, DMVs, insurers, auto finance companies, fleet managers, automotive parts recyclers and vehicle auction companies will go a long way toward helping identify and fix even more recalls.”