Yes, the author's assertion that safety recalls "elicit prompt attention" doesn't reflect my [US] experience. Many people don't take the recalls seriously or just can't be bothered.

There have been news stories about this too, e.g. https://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/dec/17/us-drivers-str...

I'm with you on this. When we have self-driving cars I hope they take themselves in to get fixed for recalls. (But at a time of my choosing - not like how computers will update at inconvenient times now.)