Including the fine against Honda, the traffic safety administration imposed $126 million in fines against automakers in 2014, more than all the fines in the agency's previous 43 years. In May, the traffic safety administration levied the first maximum $35 million fine in its history against General Motors for taking more than a decade to disclose an ignition-switch defect in millions of cars that has been linked to at least 42 deaths and 58 injuries. Under an agreement with the Transportation Department, GM admitted it was slow to inform regulators, promised to report problems faster and submitted to more in-depth government oversight of its safety operations. But lawmakers and safety advocates have also accused the traffic safety administration of having too cozy a relationship with the auto industry and for not identifying dangerous safety defects based on reports made directly to the agency by consumers and police.