The Department of Transportation recently issued in the Federal Register a notice of “Revisions to Civil Penalty Amounts.”

This notice increases penalty amounts for each violation of the Safety Act, under which tire registration falls. The current maximum penalty amount for each violation of the Safety Act is $22,329, and the new penalty is $22,723.

The current maximum penalty amount for a related series of violations of the Safety Act is $111,642,265. The new penalty is $113,611,635.

The Tire Industry Association has proposed that the new NHTSA regulation stipulate that there shall be no monetary fines for the first two violations; that monetary penalties could be assessed only after the dealer or distributor has been issued two written warnings; and that a third violation could not exceed $500 and that any subsequent penalty could not exceed $1,000; and that no more than one penalty could be assessed on a single day.