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WASHINGTON – Triumph Motorcycles is being fined $2.9 million by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for “violations of Safety Act reporting requirements and failure to fully respond to communications from NHTSA.”
The civil penalty imposed yesterday stems from a September 12014 recall of more than 1,300 Street Triple motorcycles “for a defect that could reduce steering capability and increase the risk of a crash.” NHTSA began investigating Triumph in April as to whether the company had violated the requirement to report the defect in a timely manner.
“Manufacturers must comply with their reporting obligations. The law requires it, and public safety demands it,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “When companies fail to meet those obligations, we will hold them accountable.”
Under a consent order issued to Triumph, the company must pay a $1.4 million cash penalty and must spend at least $500,000 meeting a series of requirements to improve its safety practices. An additional $1 million in penalties could become due if the company violates the consent order or if additional Safety Act violations emerge.
NHTSA is requiring Triumph to hire an outside consultant to audit the company’s safety practices; establish a safety compliance officer with direct access to the company’s top executives and board; and submit written plans to NHTSA detailing compliance practices and employee training.
According to the consent order from NHTSA, the recall covered for 1,368 Street Triple R models built between July 1, 2012 and Oct. 1, 2013 and equipped with ABS.
“Today’s enforcement action penalizes past violations, and it promotes the proactive safety culture manufacturers must adopt if they are to reduce safety defects and identify them more quickly than they occur,” said NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind.
A press release issued by NHTSA said, “In response to NHTSA’s investigation, Triumph acknowledged deficiencies in the manner in which it collected and reported early warning data to NHTSA and several instances where Triumph was late in providing quarterly reports on safety recalls. In addition, the company failed to respond by the required deadline to a NHTSA Special Order issued as part of the investigation.
“Triumph admits that it violated the Safety Act by failing to file certain quarterly reports on safety recalls in a timely manner; by failing to furnish NHTSA with copies of notices, service bulletins, and other communications sent to more than one manufacturer, distributor, dealer, owner or purchaser as required by law; and by failing to submit accurate early warning reports.”
– Bud Wilkinson
