Honda Resolves NHTSA Inquiry Regarding Early Reporting

$70 million for paperwork. :(

Wayne Gerdes - CleanMPG - Jan. 10, 2015



This past Thursday Honda entered into an agreement with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to resolve the government's inquiry into Honda's early warning reporting as required by the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation (TREAD) Act. As part of the Consent Order, Honda will pay a $70 million civil penalty and continue to implement a series of corrective measures among other requirements.



In order to ensure full compliance with its early warning reporting obligations, Honda stated is has begun taking steps to correct the errors responsible for the violations. The company is in the process of initiating new training regimens, changing internal reporting policy, making staffing and organizational changes, and enhancing oversight of its early warning reporting process.



The settlement agreement follows Honda's November 24, 2014 response to a Special Order issued by NHTSA in early November. That order was prompted by Honda's disclosure to NHTSA of preliminary findings from a third-party audit Honda commissioned in September 2014 in response to inadequately addressed discrepancies in the company's early warning reporting. In responding to the Special Order, as previously disclosed, Honda identified under-reporting of written claims or notices of injuries or deaths over the past decade due to errors related to data entry, computer coding, regulatory interpretation, and other errors in warranty and property damage claims reporting.



Honda's third-party audit of its TREAD Act reporting, known as Early Warning Reports (EWR), provides a summary of corrective actions Honda has taken and that are currently in progress.

Honda Resolves NHTSA Inquiry Regarding Early Reporting