One of the main criticisms of Toyota in these episodes has been that the company was not forthcoming with fixes and hid defects from the public when it was aware of problems.
The fine is specifically for withholding information about sticky accelerator pedals from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for four months.
Following February's Congressional hearings, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood subpoenaed documents from Toyota to find out what the company knew about the defects and when it knew them. According to today's announcement, those documents show that Toyota knew about problems with the sticky pedals on September 29th, and it did not inform NHTSA as it is required to do. The sticky pedals had plagued cars in Europe.
"We now have proof that Toyota failed to live up to its legal obligations," said Secretary LaHood. "Worse yet, they knowingly hid a dangerous defect for months from U.S. officials and did not take action to protect millions of drivers and their families. For those reasons, we are seeking the maximum penalty possible under current laws."
NHTSA is continuing to investigate what Toyota knew about other defects, such as the potential for floor-mat interference with the accelerators in Toyota Camrys and other cars. NHTSA launched an investigation in 2007 into floor mat entrapment in the Lexus ES 350 and the Toyota Camry, which ended in a minor recall of floor mats in the two cars. But the floor mat recall announced last October involves more than floor mats and affects many more Toyota and Lexus models. Further findings could result in additional fines.
Joan Claybrook, former administrator of NHTSA, has said the $16.4 million fine represents a drop in the bucket for a billion dollar automaker such as Toyota. In its public recommendations on unintended acceleration, Consumers Union, the parent company of Consumer Reports, has also recommended raising the maximum fine as a deterrent for future violations of the law.
Toyota has an opportunity to contest the fine. Since our original post, the automaker has released a statement:"We have already taken a number of important steps to improve our communications with regulators and customers on safety-related matters as part of our strengthened overall commitment to quality assurance. These include the appointment of a new Chief Quality Officer for North America and a greater role for the region in making safety-related decisions."
Update: 4/6/10
Be sure to follow Consumer Reports Cars blog (RSS) and Twitter (@CRcars) to keep up with the latest information and advice, also see our unintended acceleration guide.
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