Korean automaker Kia is issuing another recall due to a possible fire risk.

This time, the recall affects 70,000 Sorento and Sportage SUV models from 2016 to 2023.

On its website, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Kia is recommending that owners park their vehicles outside and away from structures because debris and moisture might get into a tow hitch harness module printed circuit board and cause a short, resulting in a fire.

The NHTSA said that the tow hitch harnesses might have been installed before they were sold or bought as an accessory through a Kia dealership.

The recall focuses the 2021-23 Sorento Hybrid model, the 2022-23 Sorento Plug-in Hybrid, and the 2017-2022 Sportage, the NHTSA said.

According to the NHTSA, three fires were confirmed, but no fatalities, injuries, or crashes were reported.

This recall expands on one Kia issued in August that affected more than 36,000 Kia Telluride models due to a similar issue. That recall also affected 245,000 Hyundai Palisade SUV models.

Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed on Nov. 14, the agency said.

The automaker has dealt with multiple fire-related recalls in recent years, involving brakes, and engines.

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U.S. traffic deaths rose 7% last year, the biggest increase in 13 years even though people drove fewer miles due to the coronavirus pandemic, the government's road safety agency reported Thursday.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration blamed the increase on drivers taking more risks on less-congested roads by speeding, failing to wear seat belts, or driving while impaired by drugs or alcohol.

An estimated 38,680 people died in traffic crashes last year, the most of any year since 2007, the agency said in releasing preliminary numbers. Final numbers normally come out in the fall.

The increase came even though the number of miles traveled by vehicle fell 13% from 2019.

Motorcyclist deaths rose 9% last year to 5,015, while bicyclist deaths were up 5% to 846. Pedestrian deaths remained steady at 6,205, and the number of people killed in passenger vehicles rose 5% to 23,395, according to NHTSA.

Deaths involving a large truck fell 2%, while traffic fatalities among people 65 and older fell 9%.

The agency said it has data showing that speeds increased through the year, and examples of extreme speeding became more common.

Preliminary data from the Federal Highway Administration shows that vehicle miles traveled fell by about 430.2 billion miles last year when compared with 2019. There were 1.37 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled in 2020, up from 1.11 deaths a year earlier.