Safety Research & strategies: Will Toyota Be Number One in Criminal Violations Under the TREAD Act?

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.safetyresearch.net/2010/07/20/will-toyota-be-number-one-in-criminal-violations-under-the-tread-act/


Toyota’s announcement that it is the subject of a federal criminal probe in the relay rod recalls begs a question: Will it be the first automaker to be criminally prosecuted under the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation (TREAD) Act?

Today, the automaker released – via a statement to the Tokyo Stock Exchange – the news that a federal grand jury in New York had subpoenaed the company on June 29 for documents regarding relay rod failures.

Toyota said: “The company and our subsidiaries will cooperate with the investigation with sincerity.”

So far, Toyota is the only one saying much of anything. Attorney John Kristensen, who represents the family of an Idaho man who died in a 2007 crash related to a relay rod-failure, and who alerted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to Toyota’s delay in recalling the defective components, says he can’t comment on any grand jury proceedings. The agency says that Secretary Ray LaHood had nothing to do with the subpoena to Toyota and referred all questions to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

But the dots connect rather nicely.

In May, the agency opened a Timeliness Query (at Kristensen’s request) into Recall 05V389 to replace defective steering relay rods in Toyota pickups and 4Runners, based on a one-year leg between a U.S. and Japanese recall for the same component in a sister vehicle sold overseas.

FULL story at link.