Feds Squeeze Takata With $14K Daily Fine
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is levying fines against airbag manufacturer Takata over failure to fully cooperate with an investigation.
NHTSA will fine Takata $14,000 per day for every day that the Japanese company refuses to fully cooperate with the agency’s demands. In late 2014, NHTSA requested documentation and other material related to its investigation into Takata’s defective airbags. Without going into details, NHTSA says that Takata has not been cooperative.
“Safety is a shared responsibility and Takata’s failure to fully cooperate with our investigation is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “For each day that Takata fails to fully cooperate with our demands, we will hit them with another fine. But, it’s not enough. I am asking Congress to pass the GROW AMERICA Act which would provide the tools and resources needed to change the culture of safety for bad actors like Takata.”
SEE ALSO: Ex-Takata Engineer to Testify on Airbag Flaws
Takata has forced the recall of about 24 million vehicles worldwide due to airbag inflators that can deploy with too much force, causing metal fragments to shoot at the passengers. NHTSA is currently investigating whether or not the company actively tried to cover up this safety defect.
A former engineer who worked for Takata has already come forward and said that he warned the company that using ammonium nitrate to inflate its airbags would result in serious failures.
Six deaths in Honda vehicles have all been attributed to this airbag malfunction.
Stephen covers all of the day-to-day events of the industry as the News Editor at AutoGuide, along with being the AG truck expert. His truck knowledge comes from working long days on the woodlot with pickups and driving straight trucks professionally. When not at his desk, Steve can be found playing his bass or riding his snowmobile or Sea-Doo. Find Stephen on <A title="@Selmer07 on Twitter" href="http://www.twitter.com/selmer07">Twitter</A> and <A title="Stephen on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/117833131531784822251?rel=author">Google+</A>
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