Honda recalls 81,000 Accord sedans

DETROIT January 19 2007; Reuters reported that Honda Motor Co. is recalling 81,000 Accord sedans in the United States because of faulty wiring in an airbag sensor on the driver's side, U.S. regulators said Friday.

A failure of the sensor causes the airbag system to default to the fully deployed position, regardless of the seat position, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on its Web site.

Full deployment of the driver's airbag can increase the risk of injury for smaller drivers in a frontal crash, the NHTSA said.

The vehicles involved in the recall are from the 2004-2005 model years. The mid-size Accord sedan is the Japanese automaker's top selling model in the U.S. market. The company sold over 350,000 vehicles last year.

Larger rival Toyota Motor Corp said earlier Friday it plans to recall about 533,000 Sequoia SUVs and Tundra pickup trucks in the U.S. to repair faulty components that could make the vehicles difficult to steer.