U.S. fines Japanese airbag maker Takata for not cooperating in investigation

The U.S. government on Friday announced a daily fine of 14,000 U.S. dollars against a Japanese airbag maker Takata for failing to fully cooperate in a probe against its defective airbags.

"Safety is a shared responsibility and Takata's failure to fully cooperate with our investigation is unacceptable and will not be tolerated," said the U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx in a statement. "For each day that Takata fails to fully cooperate with our demands, we will hit them with another fine."

A total of 7.8 million cars in the United States were affected by the defective airbags made by Takata, which can explode and spray shrapnel with too much force, injuring or even killing drivers and passengers, according to the data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The NHTSA announced a national recall of cars equipped with certain airbags made by Takata and issued two special orders requiring the company to provide documentation and other material relating to the DOT's investigation late last year.

Takata has not fully cooperated with the investigation, said the NHTSA. Enditem