Toyota Agrees to Pay $16.375M NHTSA Fine

Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) has agreed to settle the civil penalty demanded in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s 5 April letter related to the company’s recall for slow-to-return and sticky accelerator pedals by paying $16.375 million. (Earlier post.)

TMC said that it agreed to this settlement in order to avoid a protracted dispute and possible litigation. Toyota denied NHTSA’s allegation that it violated the Safety Act or its implementing regulations.

We believe we made a good faith effort to investigate this condition and develop an appropriate counter-measure. We have acknowledged that we could have done a better job of sharing relevant information within our global operations and outside the company, but we did not try to hide a defect to avoid dealing with a safety problem.

—Statement from Toyota Motor

US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said that while he was “pleased that Toyota has accepted responsibility for violating its legal obligations to report any defects promptly”, NHTSA is continuing to investigate whether the company has lived up to all its disclosure obligations.

The $16.375 million fine for Toyota is the largest civil penalty ever assessed against an auto manufacturer by NHTSA. This penalty relates specifically to both the “sticky pedal” and “slow to return pedal” defects, which resulted in Toyota’s recall of approximately 2.3 million vehicles in the US in late January.