(April 4, 2013) Hyundai and Kia have announced that they are recalling about 1.7 million vehicles in the United States to replace a faulty switch that can prevent brake lights from illuminating and trigger other problems.

It is the second major recall involving the stop lamp switch, following the recall of more than 500,000 Hyundai vehicles in 2009.

As many as 1,059,824 Hyundai models could be affected. The recall covers the 2007 to 2009 Accent and Tucson; the 2007 to 2010 Elantra; the 2007 to 2011 Santa Fe; the 2008 to 2009 Veracruz; the 2010 to 2011 Genesis Coupe; and the 2011 Sonata.

The Kia vehicles with potentially faulty switches are the 2007 to 2010 Rondo and Sportage; the 2007 to 2011 Sorento; the 2007 Sedona; the 2010 to 2011 Soul; and the 2011 Optima. As many as 623,658 of those models could be affected.

When a driver presses the brake, the switch is supposed to turn on the brake lights and turn off the cruise control. Also, the driver must have the brake depressed to use push-button start or shift a car out of park.

A defective switch could cause the brake lights not to illuminate, the cruise control not to deactivate or the push-button start to work erratically, Hyundai and Kia said in filings with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The defect also could prevent a car from shifting out of park.

However, a switch that malfunctions "does not affect a vehicle's brake performance," a Hyundai spokesman said.

Sources: Automotive News, press reports