When searching for a new car any practice consumer would research potential vehicles and make sure that they are safe to drive on the road. For years manufacturing company, Honda, has been associated with great products with great reports, but the world has just recently discovered that they may have been mislead.
The reason Honda has had such a great track record with their vehicle safety is because they had failed to mention numerous warranty complaints stating that the manufacturer’s vehicles are responsible for injuries and deaths. 1,729, complaints confirmed so far, while more numbers continue to come in. In November 2014, Honda, acknowledged that this statistic is true and that they had not reported these claims till now.
How should Honda be held accountable for their actions? Well President Obama has filed two fines against the company, one in which is for not reporting the death and injury reports, and the second is for not releasing the warrant and customer satisfaction complaints.
The fines total 70 million dollars and 35 million dollars, for each incident. This is the most that the country is able to charge the manufacturing company. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, stated that, “What we cannot tolerate and will not tolerate is an automaker failing to report to us any recall issues.” The United States is coming down hard on Honda because they may have endangered the lives of anyone in the country who purchased a Honda product. The information surrounding the case has also been sent to our Justice Department.
Honda is going to pay the fine without question, and has blamed the problem on issues with data entry, coding, and other warranty claiming procedures.
“We have 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,” exclaims, Rick Schostek, executive Vice President of Honda North America Inc. branch.
While the government will be collecting the 70 million dollars for the missing reports, should consumers get some of that money? Would it be ethical for drivers to sue the company for not including these statistics? Many who lost people in vehicle accidents, may now blame Honda for not providing this information.
Clarence Ditlow, Executive Director for the Center of Auto Safety stated that, “The company must waive all statutes of limitations at the state and federal level over potential recalls or lawsuits arising out of defects concealed in the unreported claims.” These procedure will protect the company from further lawsuits and fines.
