NHTSA fines Toyota $16.4 M.

Therein lies the irony. Folks saying, "see? ... it's all about the coverup". Mention that even NHTSA can't show UA related to any actual occurance ... only that there ARE cases of UA ... but what is not known is whether this instance or that one is driver error - stuck pedal - floor mat - or some unknown. What's Toyota to do? Maybe it should go something like this ... in order to avoid possible "coverup" fines:

"Hey NHTSA ... we at Toyota just heard that there was a car crash ... maybe it's our fault (or the weather/drugs/alchohol/road-rage/combonation/etc) ... who knows ... but we thought it'd important to report it."​

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I can see it now ~ with over 6 MILLION car crashes per year - and maybe 1 of 6 cars being a toyota. A million reports for NHTSA to fumble through. good luck with that.

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Whether or not there is a defect, whether or not there were complaints, and the number/rate of affected vehicles are all irrelevant.

Once you make a recall or safety campaign in another country, you have to notify NHTSA. There are no relevant exemptions. The reg is 49 CFR 579.11.

 

"admitted the defect" is not quite the phrase i would use.

acknowledged that some customers had a concern might be more appropriate. and there was no "fix" provided. an "adjustment" is the best word i can think of that might be a decent description of what transpired.

 

This is from toyota's pressroom on the pedal recall

Toyota Sticking Accelerator Pedal Recall

1. What is the solution Toyota announced to fix sticking accelerator pedals?Toyota’s engineers have developed and rigorously tested a solution that is both effective and simple. A precision-cut steel reinforcement bar will be installed into the accelerator pedal assembly, thereby eliminating the excess friction that has caused pedals to stick in rare instances.​

Fix is toyota's language. If you have a problem with their language you should take it up with Toyota.

From the original posted article
Toyota Should Be Fined $16.4 Million, LaHood Says (Update2) - BusinessWeek

NHTSA cited documents obtained from Toyota in saying the company knew about the pedal defect since at least Sept. 29, the day it told distributors in 31 European countries and Canada to make repairs to resolve sticky-pedal complaints.

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Toyota was required by law to report what it was doing. Of course you could say that toyota had a fake "fix". But that would not protect them from the fine.

Doubt cast on Toyota's decision to blame sudden acceleration on gas pedal defect - Los Angeles Times

Toyota Motor Corp.'s decision to blame its widening sudden-acceleration problem on a gas pedal defect came under attack Friday, with the pedal manufacturer flatly denying that its products were at fault.
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Sept 29 is the relevant date there. And that's not the date of problem identification, but of the notice to Canadian and European dealers.

I wouldn't classify it as a technicality or willful concealment (at this time). But Toyota did not meet their obligations under the regs. It's unclear if it was misunderstanding the requirement, overlooking it, or willful disregard.

 

To me the interesting thing isn't so much that Toyota is being fined. If it is as presented and Toyota took too long to communicate this problem to the NHTSA and consumers, then a fine is what MUST happen.

You can debate agenda, gnash your teeth about more negative publicity for Toyota, but if there is indeed "proof" that Toyota did not expediciously, or responsibly communicate this problem then the forthcoming fine is simply what must happen.

So to me, the fine is what the fine is, what is more interesting to me is Toyota's public response. They are being very passive. They aren't really denying or disagreeing with the NHTSA's findings or statements, at least not at this point. All they are really saying is that they have made changes "since", but they aren't denying or arguing the NHTSA's statements.

Will be interesting to see how this plays out further. Will Toyota try to fight this? Or will they deal with it like someone caught speeding? Simply mail in the check? Early response from Toyota makes it sound like they plan to deal with this by simply writing a check and communicating that everything is alright....now...

 

It's always about the coverup.

 

Seems to me that GM, Ford, and Chysler have had similar problems dozens of times over the years...and they still make lousey, undependable, gas hog autos.
Toyaota will fix this and they will be a better car company ...not because of any fine, but because they have pride in their product !!!

 

Some of you must brush your teeth with toyota kool-aid.

 

Let gas prices go back up to $4-5 dollars per gallon and everyone will be begging for a Toyota. I will never forget paying $91.00 to fill my pre-hybrid tank. Does anyone else remember that?

 

We're on the way... 24% increase in oil price since February.

Mr. LaHood has made it clear in his follow-up today that he going to find as much as he can find to help the lawyers take down Toyota. As a result of his obvious personal bias, I can't believe anything he has to say. I hope Toyota sues him for malicious slander and/or libel.

 

Read Ray LaHood's bio online. King of pork barrel spending. Toyota is getting their come-upins for neglecting to pay for any of LaHood's elections, prior to his being appointed by Obama. But since LaHood is closely linked to Chicago's William F. Cellini Sr., who was indicted in the "pay-to-play" criminal investigation ... you can connect the dots with little effort. What a hypocrite.

 

As some brush them after kissing gov motors nice person.

 

If it was a cover up Toyota did a lousy job at it. They circulated instructions to more than 30 countries. Someone was bound to talk;-) No cover up evidence.

The problem is the maximum is so small, that it will start being used as the default amount. The solution is probably to raise the maximum to a number large enough that it fits the behavior.

There was at a minimum an institutional problem with the way safety information was conveyed between regions. This is what Lentz blamed during congressional testimony. Toyota is addressing the communication issues with a new quality and reporting organization. The safety agencies have been lax in enforcing regulations. They have been relying on industry to police itself. I would expect for fines and stricter enforcement for all auto companies.

I'm not commenting on intent, as I am not privy to the conversations. I can see toyota protesting against the language, but they can't really defend themselves against the fine.

 

This is odd: why impose the max fine when the allegation/charge has not resulted in any fatality?

Also, does that mean the US gov will amend their law just because Toyota can easily effort the USD16m?

So what is the whole point of announcing their punishment plan when NHTSA investigation is still on-going? To make public statement that the agency is doing their job?

Don't forget they need NASA to probe every single possible hole that may exist in Toyota's engineering...

 

With a $1B cap there could be a fine in line with the violation without getting close to the maximum fine.

Sound Economy with Jon Talton | Behind the chump-change fine facing Toyota | Seattle Times Newspaper

At the risk of putting too fine a point on it, this is one reason white-collar malfeasance pays. The laws and regulations are a patchwork; the corporations have the finest lawyers money can buy, as well as politicians where they have factories; regulators for years have been too cozy with industry. For example, Toyota bragged that it had saved $100 million in recent years by negotiating smaller recalls with regulators.
Even the $2.3 billion fine against Pfizer for fraudulent marketing practices is a "cost of doing business" for a corporation that banked $50 billion in annual revenue. But it's better than the penalty Toyota faces.
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Read the OP article. This area has been investigated, and supported by Toyota documents.

That is not part of the fine. The budget for the NASA investigation is very small and can only take a quick look for potential problems not probe many possibilities.

 

I fail to see any relevance between the two:

One is obvious falsehood in marketing and verdict passed.
While another is an allegation made by an agency which itself has questionable track record.

The issue here isn't about the amount of fine Toyota is gonna get.
Instead, like Jon Talton had said, it may be the "market forces" that can apply its own justice rather than a government ruling which itself has vested interest in one or more of Toyota's competitor at the home market.

That's not my point.

The concern is US government seems to using its available resource, beyond NHTSA , to get another an unrelated agency involvement into an obviously pointless crusade of technical fault-hunting on foreign-brand product.