Personal Injury Law

Pressure in recall saga escalates as NHTSA considers another fine against Toyota

By LaBovick Law

Additional fines may be imposed against Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) , by U.S. safety regulators, for failure to promptly take action to fix the sticky accelerators. This would be in addition to the historic $16.4 million penalty imposed by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) on the automaker, April 5, that we discussed previously on the Injury Law Blog.  The NHSTA noted that the fine would have been $13 billion if not for caps set by U.S. law.

Automakers are required by law to inform regulators about a safety defect within five days of its discovery. Toyota's records indicate that the automaker issued repair notices for sticking accelerators in Europe and Canada in September, but waited until January to take action in the United States. The possibility of this new penalty comes in response to an ongoing review of Toyota's documents by NHTSA that indicates there were two separate defects in the recalled pedals.

United States District Judge James V. Selna in Orange County, Calif. will handle the trial, including important pretrial decisions such as deciding what documents and materials Toyota will need to provide as evidence.

According to an investigative Associated Press article, Toyota has a reputation of withholding documents and using evasive legal tactics in previous product liability, personal injury and wrongful death cases. A prime example is a product liability case in Colorado involving a young girl s killed in a 4Runner rollover crash. Court records show that a federal judge ordered Toyota to produce documents about internal roof strength tests. Unfortunately, the jury ruled in favor of Toyota, since they were not privy to important documents that may have helped shape a different opinion.

A former Toyota attorney, Dimitrios Biller and Whistleblower, accuses the automaker of  withholding evidence in former rollover cases. Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, found many of  Biller's claims to be substantiated after reviewing some of Biller's still-undisclosed records. It is important to note that Rep, Edolphus Towns, had to subpoena Biller's records.

Toyota now must decide whether to appeal the initial fine or not. According to NHTSA Chief Counsel O. Kevin Vincent,

"If Toyota will not agree to pay the demanded penalty, NHTSA will refer this matter to the U.S. Department of Justice with the recommendation that the Attorney General commence a civil action in federal court ."

It is hard to believe that the previous largest fine was against General Motors Company for only $1 million. Surprisingly, this fine was for not promptly recalling  windshield wipers in vehicle model years 2002-2003.

US regulators consider 2nd fine against Toyota – Reuters 

AP IMPACT: In Toyota cases, evasion becomes tactic – Associated Press

Toyota Acceleration Suits Combined in California Federal Court – Bloomberg 

Full post as published by LaBovick Injury Law Blog on April 12, 2010 (boomark / email).