Toyota has been fined by federal safety regulators this week for failing to recall vehicles with gas pedal issues on time according to a report by The Los Angeles Times. The automaker will now have to pay an approximate $17.35 million for the delay, the highest amount ever paid to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration due to a recall issue.
The issues have been found in the 2010 Lexus RX 350 and 2010 RX 450h SUV models due to a floor mat that could jam the gas pedal, causing an increase in acceleration. The problem was first reported in 2009, but Toyota didn't issue a recall until June of this year according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
"Safety is our highest priority," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in a press statement. "With today's announcement, I expect Toyota to rigorously reinforce its commitment to adhering to United States safety regulations."
Federal law states that all automakers must notify the NHTSA within five business days of finding a safety defect in a vehicle or that the vehicle is "not in compliance with federal motor vehicle safety standards." The company must then conduct a recall of the vehicle, both of which Toyota failed to do in an orderly fashion according to the NHSTA.
Earlier in 2012, NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigations started noticing a trend in floor mat pedal entrapment in the RX 350 models, and in May they contacted Toyota to discuss the issue. Toyota got back to NHTSA a month later and told NHTSA that they had been notified of at least 63 incidents involving the floor mat issues in the 350 models since 2009.
Toyota then told NHSTA that they would conduct a recall of both the 350 and 450h models due to the acceleration issues, but the fact that they didn't recall the models sooner is a huge concern with the NHSTA.
"It's critical to the safety of the driving public that manufacturers report safety defects in a timely manner," said NHTSA Administrator David Strickland in a press statement. "Every moment of delay has the potential to lead to deaths or injuries on our nation's highways."
Toyota has accepted the fine, and while it will hurt the company's image for the time being, they don't expect it to hurt sales. An auto analyst at Gartner Inc. stated that if the company provided subpar vehicles on a yearly basis compared to its top competitors it would be a huge problem. People like the Toyota brand however, and will most likely forget within a couple of months.
Toyota was fined a record $48.8 million just two years ago for three separate investigations due to issues with sticky gas pedals, pedal entrapment, and steering issues according to Toyota.
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