U.S. DOT imposes largest civil penalty in NHTSA history to Takata

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: NHTSA (Nat. Highway Traffic Safety Admin.)

U.S. DOT imposes largest civil penalty in NHTSA history to Takata for violating Motor Vehicle Safety Act, and accelerates recalls to get safe air bags into U.S. vehicles

NHTSA 46-15
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Contact: Gordon Trowbridge, 202-366-9550, [e-mail]


WASHINGTON – The Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration today issued two orders designed to protect the traveling public from defective Takata air bag inflators. The orders impose the largest civil penalty in NHTSA’s history for Takata’s violations of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, and for the first time use NHTSA’s authority to accelerate recall repairs to millions of affected vehicles. The actions also prioritize recalls so the greatest safety risks are addressed first, and set deadlines for future recalls of other Takata inflators that use a suspect propellant unless they are proved to be safe.

“For years, Takata has built and sold defective products, refused to acknowledge the defect, and failed to provide full information to NHTSA, its customers, or the public,” said Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “The result of that delay and denial has harmed scores of consumers and caused the largest, most complex safety recall in history. Today’s actions represent aggressive use of NHTSA’s authority to clean up these problems and protect public safety.”

The Consent Order issued to Takata imposes a record civil penalty of $200 million and requires the company to phase out the manufacture and sale of inflators that use phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate propellant, which is believed to be a factor in explosive ruptures that have caused 7 deaths and nearly 100 injuries in the United States. The Consent Order also lays out a schedule for recalling all Takata ammonium nitrate inflators now on the roads unless the company can prove they are safe or can show it has determined why its inflators are prone to rupture.

As part of NHTSA’s Consent Order to Takata, the company has admitted that it was aware of a defect but failed to issue a timely recall, a violation of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act. In connection with the Consent Order, NHTSA also issued findings that Takata provided NHTSA with selective, incomplete or inaccurate data dating back to at least 2009, and continuing through the agency’s current investigation, and that Takata also provided its customers with selective, incomplete or inaccurate data.

Read more: http://www.nhtsa.gov/About+NHTSA/Press+Releases/2015/nhtsa-imposes-record-fine-on-takata-11032015

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I'm hoping NHTSA is more authoritative than the "human DNA found in vegetarian hot dogs" people.

Hat tip, lots of sources, including Jalopnik: Takata Just Got Slapped With The Largest Civil Penalty In NHTSA History, Up To $200 Million

Michael Ballaban
Filed to: Takata

11/03/15 3:07pm
Thanks to its practice of making exploding airbags that had a habit of filling vehicle occupants with shrapnel, Takata was forced to recall 34 million airbags in the largest product recall ever. And now it just received the largest civil penalty in NHTSA history to match it, with a fine of up to $200 million.

It’s worth noting, however, that only $70 million of that is demanded in cash up front, and the remaining $130 million only comes due if Takata fails to either clean up its act, or if NHTSA finds they made additional deadly screw-ups.

From NHTSA’s release on the fine:

{snip}