Toyota faces $16M fine for auto defects

San Jose Mercury News: "Federal safety regulators said Monday that they intend to fine Toyota Motor $16.4 million - the largest ever penalty against an automaker - for failing to disclose problems with sticky accelerator pedals quickly enough. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Toyota knew in September that it had a problem with accelerator pedals that required fixing, but failed to recall 2.3 million vehicles until January - four months later. In taking the step, federal authorities are sending the strongest signal yet that they believe the automaker deliberately concealed safety information from them".