Ford_News
08-09-2014, 06:14 PM
Filed under: Government/Legal (http://www.autoblog.com/category/government-legal/), Bentley (http://www.autoblog.com/bentley/), Cadillac (http://www.autoblog.com/cadillac/), Chevrolet (http://www.autoblog.com/chevrolet/), Ford (http://www.autoblog.com/ford/), GM (http://www.autoblog.com/category/gm/), GMC (http://www.autoblog.com/gmc/), Luxury (http://www.autoblog.com/category/luxury/)
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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 (http://www.autoblog.com/2014/08/05/senator-mscaskill-auto-exec-punishment-safety/) 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 (http://www.autoblog.com/toyota/) and GM (http://www.autoblog.com/category/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 (http://www.autoblog.com/2014/03/19/toyota-1.2-billion-unintended-acceleration-criminal-probe-settlement/) 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.Continue reading Weekly Recap: Auto execs face life in prison for recall delays under proposed legislation (http://www.autoblog.com/2014/08/09/weekly-recap-auto-execs-life-prison-cadillac-lts-gm-trucks-bentley-suv/)
Weekly Recap: Auto execs face life in prison for recall delays under proposed legislation (http://www.autoblog.com/2014/08/09/weekly-recap-auto-execs-life-prison-cadillac-lts-gm-trucks-bentley-suv/) originally appeared on Autoblog (http://www.autoblog.com) on Sat, 09 Aug 2014 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.mnfords.com/rss-term-of-use/).
Permalink (http://www.autoblog.com/2014/08/09/weekly-recap-auto-execs-life-prison-cadillac-lts-gm-trucks-bentley-suv/) | Email this (http://www.autoblog.com/forward/20943999/) | Comments (http://www.autoblog.com/2014/08/09/weekly-recap-auto-execs-life-prison-cadillac-lts-gm-trucks-bentley-suv/#comments)
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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 (http://www.autoblog.com/2014/08/05/senator-mscaskill-auto-exec-punishment-safety/) 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 (http://www.autoblog.com/toyota/) and GM (http://www.autoblog.com/category/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 (http://www.autoblog.com/2014/03/19/toyota-1.2-billion-unintended-acceleration-criminal-probe-settlement/) 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.Continue reading Weekly Recap: Auto execs face life in prison for recall delays under proposed legislation (http://www.autoblog.com/2014/08/09/weekly-recap-auto-execs-life-prison-cadillac-lts-gm-trucks-bentley-suv/)
Weekly Recap: Auto execs face life in prison for recall delays under proposed legislation (http://www.autoblog.com/2014/08/09/weekly-recap-auto-execs-life-prison-cadillac-lts-gm-trucks-bentley-suv/) originally appeared on Autoblog (http://www.autoblog.com) on Sat, 09 Aug 2014 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.mnfords.com/rss-term-of-use/).
Permalink (http://www.autoblog.com/2014/08/09/weekly-recap-auto-execs-life-prison-cadillac-lts-gm-trucks-bentley-suv/) | Email this (http://www.autoblog.com/forward/20943999/) | Comments (http://www.autoblog.com/2014/08/09/weekly-recap-auto-execs-life-prison-cadillac-lts-gm-trucks-bentley-suv/#comments)
More... (http://www.autoblog.com/2014/08/09/weekly-recap-auto-execs-life-prison-cadillac-lts-gm-trucks-bentley-suv/)