Filed under: Government/Legal, Bentley, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ford, GM, GMC, Luxury
The stiff punishments are part of broader transportation legislation, but clearly McCaskill has automakers in her sights.
Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill threw down the gauntlet this week, proposing a bill that could send auto executives to prison for life if they were found to have delayed a recall. She also wants to eliminate the limit for fines for auto safety violations, which are currently capped at $35 million.
The stiff punishments are part of broader transportation legislation, but clearly McCaskill has automakers in her sights. "Painful recent examples at Toyota and GM have shown us we also must make it easier to hold accountable those who jeopardize consumers’ safety," she said in a statement announcing the bill.
The legislation, if passed, would give more teeth to federal laws and strengthen prosecutors’ ability to pursue offenders. McCaskill, a second-term Democrat, noted that the current law’s criminal provision has never been used by prosecutors. Even Toyota – which was slapped with a record $1.2 billion fine in March in its unintended acceleration case – was technically prosecuted for wire fraud, which allowed for a higher financial penalty than an auto safety violation. The possible life sentence for an executive could come into play if a company delayed a recall for a problem that caused a fatal accident.
Weekly Recap: Auto execs face life in prison for recall delays under proposed legislation originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 09 Aug 2014 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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