Carfax counted more than 2.7 million used vehicles for sale online in 2011 with safety recalls that were never fixed.

The company contends both owners and sellers can help improve public safety by actively checking for open recalls and having them fixed by franchised dealers.

"There's no excuse - recall repairs are free and finding cars with open recalls is easy," Carfax officials insisted.

Carfax discovered California, Florida and Texas lead the nation with the most used vehicles for sale with open recalls, each having well more than 100,000 last year.

Company officials noted automakers are working with Carfax to further alert consumers about units under recall.

A free public service for consumers to check for open recalls using the vehicle identification number is available at recall.carfax.com. Open recall information reported to Carfax by auto manufacturers also is included on Carfax Vehicle History Reports.

Carfax communications director Larry Gamache elaborated about how the company feels about recalls.

"We're making a lot of progress, but there are still too many open recalls out there," Gamache acknowledged.

"Many of these cars change hands without the buyer ever knowing a recall exists, increasing the safety risks both to passengers in the car and others on the road," he continued. "We all need to do our part to make sure these cars are identified and fixed - buyers, sellers and owners alike.

"A simple online check for open recalls is all it takes to help make our roads safer," Gamache added.

More detailed information about specific recall campaigns is available at www.safercar.gov

(KUSA-TV © 2012 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)