DETROIT (AP) — Ford Motor Co. will pay a fine of up to $165 million to the U.S. government for moving a recall too slowly and failing to provide accurate recall information.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Thursday the civil penalty was the second largest in its 54-year history. Only the fine paid by Takata for faulty airbag inflators was higher.

The agency said Ford was too slow to recall vehicles with faulty rearview cameras and failed to provide the agency with complete information as required by federal vehicle safety law automobiles.

Ford agreed to a consent order with the agency that includes a $65 million payment and $45 million in expenses to comply with the law. An additional $55 million will be carried forward.

“Timely and accurate recalls are essential to keeping everyone safe on our roadways,” said NHTSA Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman. “When manufacturers fail to prioritize the safety of the American public and comply with their obligations under federal law, NHTSA will hold them accountable.”

Under the order, an independent third party will oversee the automaker’s recall obligations for at least three years, and Ford must cooperate with the monitor.

Ford must also review all recalls over the past three years to ensure enough vehicles have been recalled and file new recalls if necessary.

The company also needs to review and change its recall decision-making process, improving how it analyzes data to detect safety defects in its vehicles. It also needs to invest in technology to be able to trace parts using vehicle identification numbers.

Ford says it will invest the $45 million in advanced data analytics, a new document system and a new testing laboratory.

“We appreciate the opportunity to resolve this issue with NHTSA and remain committed to continually improving safety,” Ford said in a statement.

Under the law, an automaker must notify NHTSA by filing a defect report within five business days after discovering that a vehicle line has a safety defect.

The problem recall of more than 620,000 vehicles in the United Statesmore than 700,000 in North America, arrived in September 2020 for backup cameras that can fail on several 2020 models, including the F-Series pickup, the best-selling vehicle in the United States.

In agency documents, NHTSA said Ford found warranty claims about defective cameras from February to April 2020, and that the matter was brought before a Ford committee in May of the same year.

In July 2020, NHTSA contacted Ford about complaints it had received regarding faulty cameras, and during an August 2020 meeting with NHTSA, Ford showed data for many 2020 models with rates of high camera failure.

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