Troubled Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors may receive another blow to its image as its current and former officers could face negligence charges over truck defects that caused a fatal accident, news reports said Saturday.
Police were preparing to file the charges of negligence resulting in death against several former and current executives of the automaker, said Jiji Press and leading dailies.
The Mitsubishi officials could have foreseen the 2002 accident in which a 29-year-old woman was killed and her two sons injured after being struck by a wheel that came off a Mitsubishi trailer in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, the reports said.
"(Before the accident) they frequently saw front-wheel hubs break apart, which was the cause of the accident. Police believe the company was able to foresee the accident but did nothing about it," the Asahi Shimbun said.
Police would file the charges in early May, the Mainichi Shimbun said.
Mitsubishi Motors knew of defects since 1996, the Mainichi said.
Last month, Mitsubishi Motor's truck-making subsidiary Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp recalled 112,000 vehicles to fix the defect with front-wheel hubs, followed by a recall of 30,000 trucks to fix faulty wheel hubs on the rear axle.
The truck maker, owned 65 percent by DaimlerChrysler, was spun off from Mitsubishi Motors Corp in 2003.