*The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration slams $165 million penalty on Ford Motor Company for failing to properly, accurately, and timeously recall unsafe 2020 Ford models, including Edge, Escape, Expedition, and Explorer with defective rearview cameras from affected consumers

Isola Moses | 绿帽献妻

The United States-based National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has announced Ford Motor Company must pay $165 million for failing to properly recall unsafe vehicles from affected consumers.

绿帽献妻 gathered the civil penalty the market regulators, last week, imposed on the vehicle manufacturer is the second-largest in NHTSA鈥檚 history, coming as a result of a consent order.

NTHSA had investigated model year 2020 Fords, including Edge, Escape, Expedition, Explorer, F-150 and other pickup trucks, Mustang, Ranger, Transit, and Lincoln Corsair and Nautilus, agency report said.

The regulators said the investigation uncovered that the leading automobile manufacturer did not quickly recall vehicles with defective rearview cameras, and did not 鈥減rovide accurate and complete recall information as required by the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act.鈥�

The order further requires an independent third party to oversee compliance with the consent order, as well as with the Vehicle Safety Act and other federal regulations.

It is equally noted Ford is expected to develop a 鈥渟afety data analytics infrastructure鈥� to provide detailed information about safety investigations by Ford or NHTSA.

The company also is to review all recalls it has issued during the last three years to make sure they鈥檝e been properly processed and if necessary, file new recalls.

The largest penalty that NHTSA has ever levied was against Takata, in a consent order about that company鈥檚 airbags, report said.

鈥楾oo many devastating stories鈥�

Teresa Murray, Consumer Watchdog director for the Public Interest Research Group, in a recent statement said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 disappointing that a company as large and revered as Ford would shirk its responsibilities and fail to follow through on a safety recall. Drivers rely heavily on rearview backup cameras for safety.

“This isn鈥檛 new. After too many devastating stories about vehicles backing up over children, backup cameras became required by law for all vehicles weighing less than 10,000 manufactured on or after May 1, 2018.”

Affected vehicle owners can check for recalls for their vehicles by entering the VIN on safercar.gov or this direct NHTSA link, according to report.