WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill released the following statement after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced it has issued a $70 million fine to Honda—the largest fine in the agency’s 40 year history—for failing to report death, injury, and warranty claims to the agency over a 12-year period as required by federal law:

“This is exactly the direction NHTSA needs to be heading as it pursues more aggressive auto safety oversight and enforcement,” said McCaskill, former Chairman of the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance. “When I questioned Administrator Rosekind at his hearing, I made clear that companies like Honda and GM must fear and respect the agency—because if the agency isn’t feared or respected, it cannot effectively police the safety of cars on the road in this country.”

NHTSA’s two $35 million fines of Honda, for a combined $70 million, represent the largest fine in the agency’s 43 year history. Combined with civil penalties issued to General Motors, Hyundai, Ferrari and others earlier in the year, NHTSA issued fines totaling more than $126 million in 2014, more than all fines in the rest of its 43 year history combined.

After NHTSA issued a $35 million fine to General Motors this summer, McCaskill criticized the mandatory cap on civil penalties and issued her support for Transportation Secretary Foxx’s request to increase the cap. She has introduced legislation to eliminate those caps altogether.

In December, McCaskill questioned NHTSA Administrator Dr. Mark Rosekind at his confirmation hearing on how the agency can better exercise authority and oversight of the auto industry, in light of ignition switch problems at General Motors and airbag malfunctions at Takata that have both been linked to consumer deaths. Rosekind was confirmed by the Senate in December and took office on Monday.

This past year, McCaskill led the Senate’s investigation into recent recalls at General Motors. McCaskill led three Senate hearings into issues surrounding 2.6 million vehicles recalled for defective ignition switches that have been linked to a number of deaths, and also held a hearing on bipartisan rental car safety legislation that she has introduced.

In November, McCaskill called on the Justice Department to consider criminal charges against Takata, an airbag company which identified and then covered up airbag safety problems that resulted in five deaths. McCaskill subsequently grilled automakers on their lackluster response to the more than 14 million vehicles currently subject to recalls or service campaigns due to airbag rupture risks.