If I have a flat tyre it's not a recall. Not everything about not being road-legal and requiring immediate action is a recall. That's a bad definition.

GP said "recall → not street legal"; you've replied to disagree with "recall ↔ not street legal".

Nothing about the definition implies the existence of the former construction.

HN discourages this type of bad faith misinterpretation in the name of pedantry.

That is itself a misinterpretation, but I'll assume good faith.

I'm not misinterpreting; I'm saying the definition is too broad. A useful reply seems simple enough:

- yes it is too broad, and here's the additional criterion to narrow it correctly

- no it is not too broad, and here's why a flat tyre is a recall

It wasn't a definition. The person you replied to used "means" in the sense of "necessarily implies", not in the sense of "is precisely equivalent to". That's what the symbols in my earlier comment meant.

E.g.

> "Murder" is a legal term, it means the act was premeditated.

Somebody who says that is not claiming that all premeditated acts are murder.

The proper definition will clearly mean the model, not the model instance.

There’s been recalls over paint, watertight seals, etc issues that impact a vehicle’s lifespan. Generally the kind of thing a company fixes not to be sued, or just cheaply maintain a solid reputation.

There’s also a “safety recall” system run by NHTSA, which is what most people think of by recall. Which then has a bunch of reporting requirements so people who aren’t taking their cars to the dealership still get notified.

It might be the correct technical term, but general interest publications like Wired should avoid jargon that confuses laypeople, especially in headlines.

Note that many recalls have nothing to do with legality to drive or immediate action.

Last time I took my car in they handled two recalls: the bracket for the spare tire could crack (mine wasn’t) and a floor drain plug was the wrong size.

Very few recalls are urgent or prohibit the car from being g driven.

> "recall" is a legal term, it means the vehicle is not road-legal and requires immediate action

No it doesn't. Sometimes it does, but certainly not always.

I drive a Ford Everest (SUV version of the Ranger). It has an open recall at the moment for a software issue where if you obstruct the power windows while they're closing, they may not detect the obstruction and stop automatically.

I can continue to drive the vehicle, I just need to get the issue rectified when I next get it serviced.

https://www.vehiclerecalls.gov.au/recalls/rec-006100