The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has reported that during the year of 2012 alone, 17.8 million cars were recalled.

The federal agency stated that these vehicles have been linked to 650 safety recalls of vehicles, equipment and car safety seats.

Since the year of 1966, which is when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration started to oversee vehicle-related defects, 500 million cars and 84 million items of equipment were recalled.

To stay on top of recall announcements regarding vehicles should be every motorist’s priority, the NHTSA reports.

For more details on these recalls and the work the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration performs, click here.