Earlier today, Toyota agreed to pay $32 million in NHTSA fines for two separate "slow to report" recall instances:
- In 2004, Toyota recalled 4Runners in Japan for a steering rod safety problem, but they failed to recall the exact same vehicles in the USA for the exact same problem until 11 months later in 2005
- Between 2007 and 2010, Toyota was slow to report and conduct pedal entrapment floormat recalls
Since NHTSA requires safety issues to be reported within 5 days, and since Toyota didn't report either of these problems within that time frame, today they were fined $32 million.
Says Toyota:
"Toyota is pleased to have resolved these legacy issues related to the timeliness of prior recalls dating back to 2005...These agreements are an opportunity to turn the page to an even more constructive relationship with NHTSA"
2010 TOYOTA NHTSA FINES DWARF GM NHTSA FINE OF 2005
In 2005, GM was fined $1 million dollars over "significant concerns" about GM's failure to report a windshield wiper safety problem. A NHTSA attorney said that GM's potential liability in this incident "far exceed(ed)" the $15 million maximum fine that NHTSA could levy.
NHTSA also said in 2005 that GM's failure to inform NHTSA about a potential windshield wiper safety issue exhibited a "pattern of behavior"...yet GM was only fined $1 million dollars at that time.
IS TOYOTA PAYING MORE THAN THEIR FAIR SHARE?
The question is: How can NHTSA only fine GM $1 million dollars in 2005 for "significant concerns" about a "pattern of behavior" and fine Toyota $50 million in 2010 for failing to report and conduct 3 recalls in a timely manner?
While it's clear that Toyota should be fined - probably substantially more than GM was fined - are Toyota's actions in 2010 *fifty times worse* than GM's actions in 2005?
Are these fines fair, or are they political?
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