US safety regulators may seek a second penalty against Toyota Motor Corp for knowingly delaying a massive recall over defective accelerator pedals, after imposing a record US$16.4 million fine against the automaker last Monday.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in a April 5 letter to Toyota, said the company’s recall of 2.3 million vehicles in January for faulty accelerator pedals came at least four months after the automaker had determined there were safety defects in the vehicles.
The NHTSA may pursue a second fine based on documents submitted by Toyota that indicated there were two separate defects in the recalled pedals, the letter showed. The agency said Toyota would have faced a fine totaling US$13.8 billion if not for caps set by US law.
The proposed US$16.4 million civil penalty against Toyota is the maximum allowed by US law and the largest that the US Department of Transportation has ever sought.
“Here, the gravity of Toyota’s apparent violations is severe and potentially life-threatening,” NHTSA chief counsel Kevin Vincent said in the letter, a copy of which was reviewed by reporters.
US law allowed a US$6,000 penalty for each defective vehicle sold by Toyota, adding to US$13.8 billion. Because of a law that limits individual fines against a manufacturer, the maximum the government could seek was US$16.375 million, Vincent said in the letter.
Toyota has until next Monday to decide whether to appeal that penalty for the first official finding that the world’s largest automaker violated US safety regulations.
“If Toyota will not agree to pay the demanded penalty, [the] NHTSA will refer this matter to the US Department of Justice with the recommendation that the attorney general commence a civil action in federal court,” Vincent said.
The New York Times first reported the NHTSA letter.
Automakers in the US are legally obligated to tell safety regulators within five days if they determine a safety defect exists.
US safety regulators said in proposing the record fine against Toyota last Monday that the automaker’s own records showed that it had issued repair notices for the sticky pedal problem in Canada and Europe in September, but did not take action in the US market until January.
The agency continues to investigate Toyota recalls, including one last October for floor mats that can jam the gas pedal and cause uncontrolled acceleration. The NHTSA has said that additional fines are possible.
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