The article mentions Honda's efforts to track down owners of cars with defective airbags. Why can't state motor vehicle registries cooperate in recalls like this?
What I'm more annoyed about is the UX. Honda is getting press puff pieces published about what an awesome job they're doing up to and including rental cars for people who are concerned while parts are on backorder. Meanwhile my local dealership told me that they'd drop me off/pick me up in their shuttle as long as I wasn't more than 2 miles away.
The dealership where I bought my Honda gave me a loaner while my vehicle was repaired. I dropped my car off on the way to work, and picked up the loaner. The work was done by the time I got off work. The whole experience was painless.
EDIT: To be sure, Honda isn't the only major vehicle manufacturer involved [1]. Observing that this isn't an explicit state issue and someone's got to foot the bill, this would almost certainly require some federal agency (e.g. NHTSA) compelling applicable states to act, a bureaucratic process that never goes smoothly in practice.