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Recalled Products Putting Consumers At Risk

NEW YORK (CBS) ― The number of recalled products has risen sharply in recent years, and consumer advocates warn that, all-too-often, word of a defective item never reaches the owner.

That leaves a large percentage of these dangerous goods still on the road or in your home.

An airbag flaw in certain BMW models prompted a major recall by the manufacturer earlier this week.

As news of the defect spread, BMW said they expect to notify all owners by mail in late September. But countless other products were also recalled this week.

From children's sweatshirts to Fisher-Price toys, and even these snowboard bindings, countless products have had problems.

"Who would think that?" Angela Caprio said. "I mean, a sweatshirt, how could a sweatshirt be recalled?"

Caprio, a mother of three, says she also wasn't notified of a tire recall that left her with four rotten tires recently.

"Thank goodness I had a flat only and wasn't on the highway and didn't have blowout," Caprio said.

"It is difficult, they are hiding their light under a bushel," Tom Oliva said.

Oliva, a product liability attorney, says every year innocent consumers are injured not only due to faulty products but also due to the faulty reporting of these products by retailers to consumers.

"The information that the retailers gather about us when we shop there is not being used for our benefit," Oliva said. "It is only being used for theirs,"

Another problem, says Oliva, is that there are dozens of agencies that regulate all kinds of different products, with no uniform system of alerting problems to their customers.

"So the consumer literally has to navigate through dozens of websites, if they are so inclined, to try and find out if their product is safe or not."

Several other products were included in the recall round-up over the last two weeks.

Signature Gourmet & Crofton Personal Blenders have a blade that poses serious laceration hazards.

The Lowe's Perfect Flame Gas Grill has 175 reports of grill fires and 25 reports of grills melting recently.

Consumers should also stop using Mother Hubbard Cupboard cribs because they failed to meet government safety standards.

Consumer Advocates recommend that when you buy a product you mail in the warranty card. That gives manufacturers some idea how to locate you.

You may also want to sign up for automatic e-mail recall notifications.

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