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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — New research shows there are 57 million cars across the country with open recalls on them.

Carfax’s Chris Basso says it’s even worse in states like Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas.

“Consumers in the MidSouth need to be very worried because there are 342, 000 vehicles at least in the area that are on the road with open recalls,” Basso said.

This could not only be the car you’re driving, but one that’s next to you on the road, or one sitting on a dealer’s lot. A problem for moms like Sabrina Rodriguez.

“I wouldn`t want to trust that the other people driving next to me or down behind me or down the street are making sure their vehicles are up to date and current on stuff that`s wrong with it,” Rodriguez said.

According to Carfax, while some people ignore recall notices and don’t take their vehicle to the dealer for repairs, others simply don’t know the recall exists.

Consumers can go to safer-car-dot-gov and enter their VIN to check for recalls.

Even easier, WREG checked the Ladies’ cars for open recalls on the spot by plugging in their VIN or license plate with the free My Carfax app.

No open recalls were found.

The app also alerts users of open recalls, so they don’t have to constantly check on their own. No matter how you do it, Basso says taking the time to check for and have recalls repaired, can save lives.

“These are safety related issues that can cause fires, crashes exploding air bags real safety issues that put your family at risk,” Basso said.

In addition to southern states having a high number of unfixed recalls, the minivan had the highest number of open recalls of all vehicle categories.