US fines Honda $70 mln for failing to report deaths, injuries

U.S. transportation authorities Thursday announced a record fine of 70 million U.S. dollars against Honda for failing to report more than 1,700 claims of deaths and injuries, as well as certain warranty claims in the past 10 years.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Honda will pay two 35-million-dollar civil penalties. One is for Honda's failure to report 1,729 deaths and injury claims between 2003 and 2014. The other is for its failure to report certain warranty data and claims under customer satisfaction campaigns over the same period.

"Today's announcement sends a very clear message to the entire industry that manufacturers have responsibility for the complete and timely reporting of this critical safety information," said NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind.

In addition, Honda has also been ordered to receive increased NHTSA oversight and third party audits to ensure that all required reporting is completed now and into the future.

Rick Schostek, executive vice president of Honda North America, said the automaker has "resolved this matter and will move forward to build on the important actions Honda has already taken to address our past shortcomings in early warning reporting."

In 2014 alone, NHTSA issued more than 126 million dollars in civil penalties, exceeding the total amount collected by the agency during its 43-year history.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said last year alone, authorities issued more fines than in NHTSA's entire 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."