Honda Motor Co has agreed to pay $70 million to the U.S. government in penalties for failing to report hundreds of injuries, deaths and other consumer claims involving its cars, transportation officials said on Thursday.
In November, Honda revealed that it had failed to report 1,729 cases involving deaths or injuries between July 2003 and June 2014. Eight of those incidences involved Takata Corp air bags that had ruptured and have been the subject of massive recalls and federal investigations.
Honda has been under investigation for violations of the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration's Early Warning Reporting regulations. The rules require automakers to quickly report any information regarding possible defects, deaths and injuries or damage and warranty claims made by consumers.
Federal auto safety regulators said Thursday that they are assessing a total of $70 million in fines against Honda for violating federal safety reporting requirements.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the two $35 million fines also come with Honda's agreement to increase NHTSA oversight and enhance its third-party audits to make sure its reporting in current in the future.
NHTSA said the first fine relates to Honda's failure to report 1,729 death and injury claims to NHTSA between 2003 and 2014. Honda has previously disclosed the undercount, saying that its own investigation found that it misinterpreted what issues shouild be counted.
The second civil penalty relates to Honda's failure to report certain warranty claims and claims under "customer satisfaction campaigns," in which a manufacturer quietly agrees to fix defects on cars even when they are outside the normal warranty period, over the same number of years, NHTSA said.
"Honda and all of the automakers have a safety responsibility they must live up to, (which is) no excuses," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx in a statement.
Honda has been at the center of the recalls involving air bags made by automotive supplier Takata of Japan. The bags can injure passengers with metal and plastic shrapel when they deploy in an accident.
Last year, NHTSA issued more than $126 million in civil penalties, which was a record. exceeding the total amount collected by the agency during its forty-three year history.
"These fines reflect the tough stance we will take against those who violate the law and fail to do their part in the mission to keep Americans safe on the road," Foxx said.