New York: Toyota Motor Corp has agreed to a record fine of $17.35m for failing to report a safety defect to the US government in a timely manner, but maintained it has done nothing wrong.
Toyota announced a recall of 154,036 2010 Lexus RX 350 and RX 450h vehicles in June to address a risk that a loose floormat could force down the accelerator pedal.
The US Department of Transportation said the fine was the highest ever for not initiating a recall in a timely manner.
This year’s recall followed a string of damaging safety recalls from Toyota, the world’s top automaker, since 2009.
Certain unintended acceleration claims made against some models caused a worldwide recall of nearly 19 million vehicles from late 2009 to early 2011. Toyota in a statement said it agreed to the settlement without admitting any violation of its US safety obligations.
“We agreed to this settlement in order to avoid a time-consuming dispute and to focus fully on our shared commitment with NHTSA to keep drivers safe,” Ray Tanguay, chief quality officer of Toyota North America, said in a statement.
The Department of Transport’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it contacted Toyota in May after it noticed a trend of “floor mat pedal entrapments” in vehicle owner questionnaires.
Toyota advised the safety agency a month later that it was aware of 63 alleged incidents and said it would launch the recall.
Federal law requires automakers to notify the agency within five business days of determining that a safety defect exists and to conduct a recall. “Every moment of delay has the potential to lead to deaths or injuries on our nation’s highways,” said David Strickland, the Administrator of the highway safety agency.
Reuters
