US: Toyota fined record amount for delay in reporting safety issues

The NHTSA has announced that Toyota has been fined the maximum penalty, $17.4m,  the single highest civil penalty amount ever paid to NHTSA for violations stemming from a recall, for taking too long to report safety issues to the authorities. Federal law requires safety defects to be notified within five days. NHTSA became aware of "floor mat pedal entrapment" issues in early 2012, and approached the manufacturer in May: Toyota admitted that it knew of 63 alleged incidents since 2009, which shows fairly clearly that it had not made the required reports in time.

The agreement between NHTSA and Toyota can be read here.