Washington, Aug 10 - Honda has recalled nearly 400,000 vehicles in the US because of a defect that could lead cars to roll away when parked, the Japanese manufacturer said Monday.

The safety recall was related to a defect in the ignition mechanism. Honda in a statement reported "several complaints about such failures" and "a small number of related incidents, including one that resulted in a minor injury."

Honda was recalling 197,000 'Accord' and 117,000 'Civic' models from 2003, as well as 69,000 Element models from 2003-04. (dpa)