The Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued two orders on Tuesday to protect the public from defective Takata air bags.
The orders impose the largest civil penalty in NHTSA’s history for Takata’s violations of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, and for the first time use NHTSA’s authority to speed up recall repairs for millions of vehicles.
The actions also prioritize recalls so the greatest safety risks are addressed first and set deadlines for future recalls of other Takata inflators that use a suspect propellant unless they’re proved to be safe.
“For years, Takata has built and sold defective products, refused to acknowledge the defect, and failed to provide full information to NHTSA, its customers, or the public,” said Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “The result of that delay and denial has harmed scores of consumers and caused the largest, most complex safety recall in history.”
The first Takata order imposes a record civil penalty of $200 million and requires the company to phase out the manufacture and sale of inflators that use an ammonium nitrate propellant, which is believed to be a factor in explosive ruptures that have caused seven deaths and nearly 100 injuries in the United States.
The order also lays out a schedule for recalling all Takata ammonium nitrate inflators now on the roads unless the company can prove they’re safe or can show it has determined why its inflators are prone to rupture.
As part of the order, Takata has admitted that it was aware of a defect but failed to issue a timely recall. In the order, NHTSA also issued findings that Takata provided NHTSA with selective, incomplete, or inaccurate data dating back to at least 2009, and continuing through the agency’s current investigation, and that Takata also provided its customers with selective, incomplete, or inaccurate data.
Of the $200 million fine, $70 million is payable in cash. An additional $130 million would become due if Takata fails to meet its commitments or if additional violations of the act are discovered.
The order also imposes oversight on Takata for the next five years, including an independent monitor selected by NHTSA to assess, track, and report the company’s compliance with the phase-out schedule and other requirements of the order, and to oversee a remedy program.
In a second order issued to Takata and 12 vehicle manufacturers, they’re directed to prioritize their remedy programs based on risk, and establish a schedule so they’ll have sufficient parts to fix the defect in all affected vehicles. The order also establishes a remedy program under which the agency will oversee the supply of remedy parts and manage future recalls with the assistance of an independent third-party monitor.
Drivers can check at SaferCar.gov to see if their vehicles are included in the recall.
