According to a research conducted by vehicle history provider Carfax, millions of used car buyers and sells might be dealing with cars that have an unfixed recall.
The study found that nearly 46 million cars across the US have at least one unfixed safety recall, amongst which five million were bought and sold without knowing about the issue in 2014.
Family-oriented vehicles such as minivans and SUVs are most likely to be affected by unfixed recall; which pose threat at larger scale, the analysts said.
According to Carfax, one in five SUVs and One in three minivans have issues that have not been fixed.
The report also highlighted the states with the most number of unfixed recalls, which includes California, Texas, Florida, New York and Pennsylvania on the top ten list.
West Virginia, Michigan, Mississippi, Wyoming and New Jersey have the highest ratios of unfixed recalled cars, according to the report.
Carfax communications director Larry Gamache said: "America's cavalier response to manufacturer safety recalls is putting lives at risk.
"Every morning millions of people drive to work, school and other places in a potential ticking time bomb.
"Fires, crashes and serious injury are just a few consequences of letting recalls go unfixed. The minor inconvenience that comes from having a recall fixed pales in comparison to what can happen if you don't."
