U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is seeking the maximum civil penalty of $16.375 million against Toyota Motor Corporation for failing to notify the auto safety agency of what turns out to be a potentially fatal “sticky pedal” defect for at least four months.

The Japanese company did this “despite knowing of the potential risk to consumers.” Approximately 2.3 million vehicles in the U.S. were recalled in late January for the sticky pedal defect.

The penalty being sought against Toyota would be the largest civil penalty ever assessed against an auto manufacturer by NHTSA. Critics maintain that is a laughable fine, given the billions upon billions of dollars Toyota has extracted from the U.S. market.  

Auto manufacturers are legally obligated to notify NHTSA within five business days if they determine that a safety defect exists. NHTSA says it learned through documents obtained from Toyota that the company knew of the sticky pedal defect since at least September 29, 2009.

That day, Toyota issued repair procedures to their distributors in 31 European countries and Canada to address complaints of sticky accelerator pedals, sudden increases in engine RPM, and sudden vehicle acceleration. The documents also show that Toyota was aware that consumers in the United States were experiencing the same problems.

“We now have proof that Toyota failed to live up to its legal obligations,” said Secretary LaHood. “Worse yet, they knowingly hid a dangerous defect for months from U.S. officials and did not take action to protect millions of drivers and their families. For those reasons, we are seeking the maximum penalty possible under current laws.”

Under NHTSA’s current authority, the maximum possible civil penalty for related violations is $16.375 million. The penalty announced today relates specifically to the “sticky pedal” defect.

NHTSA is still investigating Toyota to determine if there are additional violations that warrant further penalties.

“Safety is our top priority and we will vigorously pursue companies that put consumers at risk,” said NHTSA Administrator David Strickland. “We will continue to hold Toyota accountable for any additional violations we find in our ongoing investigation.”

On February 16, NHTSA launched an investigation into the timeliness and scope of the three recent Toyota recalls and required the automaker to turn over documents and explanations related to its adherence to U.S. auto safety laws. NHTSA made a preliminary determination on the fine announced today based on a review of documents Toyota has provided. To date, Toyota has submitted more than 70,000 pages of documents, which NHTSA officials are continuing to review.

NHTSA has the most active defect investigation program in the world, opening or closing an investigation almost every week. During the last three years, NHTSA’s defect and compliance investigations have resulted in 524 recalls involving 23.5 million vehicles.

However, NHTSA’s handling of Toyota unintended acceleration matters has come under severe criticism for it failure to act on the problem going back almost a decade. The actions of two former NHTSA employees are also under scrutiny because while working for Toyota, they appeared to thwart safety investigations and recalls that could have saved lives. More than 50 fatalities are alleged to have resulted from runaway Toyota and Lexus vehicles.

Responsibility at Toyota  for recalls resides in Japan.