NHTSA Seeks Maximum Fine for Toyota
The NHTSA has announced that it will seek the maximum fine against Toyota for failing to report its “sticking accelerator” issue in a timely manner. Federal law allows a maximum fine of $16.5 million.
Manufacturers are required to report safety defects to the NHTSA within five days of discovering the problem. Toyota became aware of the problem in September, prompting the fine.
In response to the reports of the fine, Toyota has issued the following brief statement:
While we have not yet received their letter, we understand that NHTSA has taken a position on this recall. 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.
Toyota does have the opportunity to dispute the fine. When GM was fined $3 million for a violation in 2004, it was able to negotiate the fine down to $1 million- thus far, that’s the largest fine ever by the NHTSA.
Grounds for dispute include the fact that there may be political motivation behind the size of the fine given that it is so high compared to any other similar fine. Also, the specific violation that resulted in the fine has resulted in no serious crashes, injuries or deaths.
Additionally, documents show that Toyota was aware of the defect but did not recognize it as a safety issue. It was considered a convenience issue because the pedals get stuck only slightly depressed and the car can easily be controlled using the brakes. As a convenience issue, Toyota was not required to report the defect to the NHTSA and could easily dispute the fine because of that.
Still, there is speculation that Toyota may decide to simply pay the fine to avoid the continued negative publicity that would come from disputing the fine.
The NHTSA has also has stated that although this is the maximum fine for a single violation, it may still impose further fines if it determines that there were further violations by Toyota.
