NHTSA opens probe into Accord airbag lights

The government has opened a probe into '00 and '01 Honda Accords that were equipped with side airbags, as the system is known for setting off a warning light if objects are placed on the passenger's seat and end up resting on the door panel. It's certainly a real problem, as I once got a call from my wife who was very concerned about the warning lamp that had just illuminated on her '01 EX coupe. A trip to the dealership confirmed that nothing was wrong, but the frustrating part of the experience was that there was no indication to the driver as to what the problem was, and no code was set in the airbag control module which left the service tech making a guess (albeit an accurate one) as to the cause of the problem. Mrs. Bryant would like to note that while the article claims that cycling the key is necessary to reset the light, she's found that simply removing the object from the vicinity of the door panel also works.