Toyota Draws Hefty Fine on Recall Laxness

Toyota will pay more than $17-million to settle allegations that it did not report a safety defect, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Tuesday.


The government said the fine is the largest civil penalty paid to NHTSA for recall violations and is related to unexpected acceleration blamed on floor mat entrapment of the accelerator pedal in some Lexus models.

Toyota earlier in the year had revised its recall of 2009 vehicles to include more than 150,000 2010 model year Lexus RX vehicles. NHTSA suggested the recall delay was improper, stating that automakers must inform the agency within five days of determining a safety defect exists.