Honda Cars Recall: Car Company Receives $70M Fine for Failing to Report Over 1,000 Death and Injury Complaints as Exec Aims to 'Move Forward'

The Obama administration announced Thursday it is fining Honda $70 million for failing to report at least 1,729 complaints to regulators regarding vehicle-caused deaths and injuries and warranty claims.

In November, Honda admitted it did not report the injury and death complaints to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration since 2003, Fox News reports. The company also acknowledged that, despite learning of the omissions in 2011, it waited three years to take action.

The Japanese car maker also failed to report certain warranty claims and claims under customer satisfaction campaigns throughout the same period, federal officials said.

The safety administration is imposing twin fines: $35 million for not reporting the death and injury complaints, and another $35 million for not reporting the warranty and customer satisfaction claims. Both fines are the maximum the agency is legally allowed to impose.

"What we cannot tolerate and will not tolerate is an automaker failing to report to us any recall issues," Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx told Fox News.

The Honda complaints include defective parts, such as air bags made by Japanese auto supplier Takata Corporation. The air bag inflators can burst after a crash and injure or kill passengers with shards of metal. Since 2008, Honda has recalled more than 5 million vehicles in the U.S. with defective air bags.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration served Honda with a consent order on Dec. 29. The automaker signed the order and thereby agreed to pay the fines, but officials said they have not received all the complaints. Currently, the number of deaths and injuries involved are unknown.

"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," Rick Schostek, executive vice president of Honda North America Inc., said in a statement.

Foxx said information about Honda's failure to report the complaints has been sent to the Justice Department.

The Center for Auto Safety, a consumer watchdog group, has called for a criminal investigation of Honda.

Federal law requires auto manufacturers to report death and injury complaints to regulators as a way to identify safety defects that can lead to a recall.