The two penalties together surpass the $35 million settlement paid by General Motors, which was the previous NHTSA record for a single company's coverage of a compliance violation. Federal regulators uncovered Honda's hidden violations late last year while investigating the Takata air bag crisis. In its internal review, Honda blamed "inadvertent data entry or computer programming errors" on the unreported claims and defects. NHTSA imposed $126 million in fines on auto companies last year, more fines than it had ever before issued in a one-year period. The agency has been cracking down on safety issues after it was criticized for failing to catch problems in GM vehicles that led to at least 42 deaths. Under the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation Act, carmakers will be fined $7,000 per violation each day for not reporting injuries, lawsuits, warranty claims and complaints to federal regulators.