(December 12, 2012) Honda said today it is recalling 870,000 SUVs because they could roll away after being shifted into park. The Japanese automaker said it is recalling 807,000 vehicles in the United States and about 63,000 in 28 other countries, the Detroit News reported.

The recall in the U.S. includes 318,000 2003-2004 Honda Odyssey and 259,000 Honda Pilot vehicles and about 230,000 2003-2006 Acura MDX vehicles.

This is the latest major recall by Honda to deal with the issue of faulty ignition interlocks. Since 2003, Honda has recalled more than 2.2 million vehicles over the issue.

In October, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it was opening a preliminary investigation into the 2003-04 Honda Pilot and Odyssey models with automatic transmissions after the agency received 42 complaints alleging mechanical failures allowed 26 vehicles to roll away after the key was removed.

NHTSA said complainants said that the ignition interlock failure resulted in rollaways, including 16 alleging that the vehicles stopped only when they struck an object. The ignition cylinder park-shift interlock is supposed to prevent the key from being removed until the transmission is shifted to park.

Objects struck include fences, a tree, a pole, a landscape retaining wall 600 feet away and a brick mailbox that was struck after the vehicle rolled for two blocks, NHTSA said.

NHTSA said some vehicles came to rest after hitting multiple parked cars. One owner said she was knocked down as she tried to get into the vehicle to stop it as it rolled and another reported having hurt her knee when she attempted to stop the vehicle from rolling away.

Honda said it knew of only two minor injuries.

Honda will notify owners in February 2013.

Source: The Detroit News