Two separate fines equaling the total.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: The American Honda Motor Co., Inc. has submitted to penalties doled out by federal auto safety regulators to the tune of $70 million.
American Honda is complicit in failing to report hundreds of injuries, deaths, and other consumer claims involving its vehicles, U.S. transportation officials revealed.
In November 2014, the automaker conceded it had neglected to report 1,729 incidents of death or injury between July 2003 and June 2014.
Honda had previously been under investigation for violating of the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration’s Early Warning Reporting statutes. The regulations obligate automakers to immediately submit any information regarding defects, damage, warranty claims, injuries, or deaths reported by customers.
Honda and all of the automakers have a safety responsibility they must live up to– no excuses,” articulated U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx in a statement today. “Last year alone, we issued more fines than in NHTSA’s entire history. These fines reflect the tough stance we will take against those who violate the law and fail to do their part in the mission to keep Americans safe on the road.”
The civil penalties include two separate fines of $35 million, each the maximum amount allowable under United States law. The first covers Honda’s refusal to report the 1,729 death and injury claims between 2003 and 2014. The second fine addresses a failure to fully report warranty claims and repairs offered under “customer satisfaction campaigns.”
When consolidated, the dual fines represent the largest penalty imposed on a single company by the NHTSA. The sum far exceeds the previous record of $35 million enforced upon General Motors last May, after failing– for over a decade– to act upon an ignition switch defect that led to the death of at least thirteen people.
(This story was revised on 1/8/2015)