Boston Injury Lawyer Blog

Sources at USA Today reported that Toyota will pay $1.2 billion in criminal penalties stemming from a series of recalls for faulty accelerators in numerous Toyota brand car models, which began in 2009.

The settlement, according to USA Today, is the largest criminal penalty to be imposed on a car company in United States history.

Attorney General Eric Holder said that “Toyota intentionally concealed information and misled the public about the safety issues behind these recalls,” and that the company’s conduct was “shameful.”

Chief legal officer for Toyota Motor North America Christopher P. Reynolds stated in a press conference that “Entering this agreement, while difficult, is a major step toward putting this unfortunate chapter behind us. We remain extremely grateful to our customers who have continued to stand by Toyota. Moving forward, they can be confident that we continue to take our responsibilities to them seriously.”

The billion dollar settlement calls for dismissal of the government’s case against the Japanese car company in exchange for Toyota’s payment and continued cooperation. The deal also stipulated an independent monitor of how Toyota handles safety communications, its internal handling of accident reports and its processes preparing and communicating technical bulletins. The federal criminal probe did not include the lawsuits and federal safety regulator and congressional probes of the Toyota sudden acceleration recalls and instead looked strictly at whether Toyota provided false or incomplete statements to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The case also investigated how Toyota handled consumer complaints.

To date, Toyota has paid approximately $1.6 billion to car owners for lawsuits in the cases and paid federal fines of more than $33 million for delaying its safety defect reporting to NHTSA.
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General Motors has added 1.5 million vehicles to its recalls yesterday and publicly acknowledged that it fell short in catching faulty ignition switches linked to 12 deaths.

GM chief executive Mary Barra issued a statement to her GM employees saying, “Something went wrong with our process in this instance, and terrible things happened,” according to Reuters. Barra also apologized for the company’s failure to catch the faulty ignition switches and acknowledged that the company is now changing its practices in handling defect investigations and recalls.

Since the first series of recalls two months ago, GM has recalled more than 3.1 million vehicles globally. The initial recall, which included 1.6 million vehicles, was prompted by evidence of faulty ignition switches. The latest recall includes more than 1.5 million newer crossover utility vehicles, luxury sedans, and full-sized vans because of faulty airbag wiring, brake parts, and other defective components.

Because this recall encompasses models nearly a decade old that should have seemingly been recalled much sooner than this year, GM is now under criminal and civil investigations, and faces congressional hearings and class-action lawsuits in both the United States and in Canada. The major question remains though: Why did GM take so long to address a problem that came to its attention in 2001?

GM is in negotiations with Delphi Automotive, the company that supplies GM cars’ ignition switches, to supply a second line for replacement parts. Barra stated that customers will receive a detailed notice by mail during the second week of April.

MODELS RECALLED

According to Reuters, the latest recalls include 1.18 million mid-sized crossovers to repair an issue that could lead to the non-deployment of side airbags. It said it will repair the wiring harness of seat-mounted side airbags.

Affected are some 2008-2009 and all 2010-2013 Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia crossovers, some 2009 and all 2010-2013 Chevrolet Traverses and some 2008-2009 and all 2010 Saturn Outlooks. Most of the vehicles were sold in the United States, but some are in Canada and Mexico.

303,000 Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana full-size vans are also being recalled to replace plastic material in the passenger instrument panel to meet federal head-impact crash standards for unbelted passengers, a spokesman for GM said.

Affected are vans from model years 2009 through 2014 that are rated to carry up to 10,000 pounds including the vehicle’s own weight. The majority of these vehicles were sold in the United States, and were also sold in Canada, Mexico and other markets.

In the XTS, a brake booster pump wiring issue can lead to overheating, melting of plastic parts and a possible engine compartment fire, the spokesman said. There were two reports of fires in unsold cars on dealer lots in June and September last year as well as two cases of melted components.

Affected are 63,900 of the 2013 and 2014 luxury sedans, mostly in the United States, but also in Canada, Mexico and a small number in the Middle East, the spokesman said.
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Graco Children’s Products has announced a recall of more than 403,000 child safety seats in addition to last month’s recall of nearly 4 million car seats because of faulty harness buckles.

The company came under scrutiny by government watchdog National Highway Traffic Safety Administration when it issued the first recall. NHTSA alleges that it has received thousands of complaints from consumers having to resort to extreme measures to unlock their children from Graco’s safety seat harnesses because they’ve become stuck. Often the harnesses would become stuck because food and beverages can make the harness buckles in the children’s seats sticky and therefore harder to unlatch over time.
Graco has maintained that only 1% of its seats are affected, but the NHTSA wants Graco to add an additional 1.8 million seats to its recall. According to the company though, this recall does not include rear-facing infant seats because infants likely do not get food or drinks on their seats. Yet this is the only explanation the company gave as to the reason why it did not call infant seats. Graco has until March 20 to formally explain to NHTSA why it did not include infant seats in the first recall.

The 403,222 seats added to the previous list of recalled child safety seats include models: Argos 70 Elite, Ready Ride, Step 2, My Ride 65 with Safety Surround, My Size 70, Head Wise 70 with Safety Surround, Nautilus 3-in-1, Nautilus Plus, and Smart Seat with Safety Surround. These include all models manufactured between 2006 and 2014.

Graco confirmed it will send replacement buckles to owners of infant seats upon request. The company also has issued cleaning tips for buckles as well as instructions on how to replace the buckles (including posting a video to its website) for customers who requested a replacement buckle for their child’s seat.
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