WASHINGTON—The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Monday it was opening a formal safety probe into more than 1.1 million Honda Accord vehicles over the sudden loss of steering control reports.
The agency said the engineering analysis covers 2013 through 2015 models and said “under normal driving conditions, with no warning or input from the driver, the vehicle may veer or jerk out of its intended path of travel.” Honda did not immediately comment. NHTSA said it has 107 complaints and two injury incidents related to the issue.
NHTSA received a petition asking for an investigation in October regarding an alleged defect in the steering system of a 2013 Honda Accord vehicle.
The agency said the petition alleged Honda vehicles “are experiencing a sudden loss of steering control as the vehicle veers from its intended path of travel.”
The petition said the “deviation from the intended path of travel occurs without warning or driver input while operating the vehicle under normal driving condition,” NHTSA added.
NHTSA opened a defect petition review and sent Honda two information requests on steering anomalies in Honda Accord vehicles.
The agency said it “performed an extensive analysis on the information obtained from Honda as well as information in NHTSA’s databases.”
The engineering analysis will assess the scope, frequency, and potential safety-related consequences of the alleged defect.
