Toyota Motor Corporation will pay an additional $32.425 million in civil penalties to the federal government for failure to report safety defects to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in a timely fashion. A maximum fine of $16.375 million was charged based on an investigation into the floor mat entrapment problem that led to five million vehicles recalled. A $16.05 million fine resulted from another investigation completed this week into a steering relay rod defect that Toyota identified as a problem in Japan months before a recall was issued in the United States.
In April, NHTSA assessed its largest civil penalty ever against an automaker when it fined Toyota $16.375 million for failing to notify the agency of a pedal defect for four months. Total civil penalties assessed for Toyota in 2010 amount to $48.8 million, which will be paid into the Treasury Department's General Fund.
"Automakers are required to report any safety defects to NHTSA swiftly, and we expect them to do so," said NHTSA Administrator David Strickland in a statement. "NHTSA acknowledges Toyota's efforts to make improvements to its safety culture, and our agency will continue to hold all automakers accountable for defects to protect consumers' safety."
Before these three Toyota fines, the greatest penalty paid was by General Motors. It was fined $1 million for windshield-wiper failure, according to Automotive News.
Last February, Consumers Union called for changes to strengthen U.S. car-safety net, including removing NHTSA's cap on civil penalties.
We wrote:
"NHTSA has the authority to seek civil penalties from automakers and suppliers for a variety of violations. If agency officials determine that a company violated such statutory obligations, the company can be fined up to a maximum of $16.4 million in civil penalties. This amount might be considered by a large, multi-billion dollar manufacturer as just the 'cost of doing business.' We recommend removing this cap on civil penalties to act as a deterrent for future violations of the law."
The story of Toyota safety issues doesn't end with these fines. NHTSA continues to investigate possible causes for unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles, tapping the National Academy of Sciences and NASA for a pair of studies.
For more information on the Toyota recalls, see our unintended acceleration guide.
—Jeff Bartlett
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