U.S. Transportation Department opens probe of 2010 Toyota Prius brakes

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Thursday that it is opening a formal investigation of the 2010 Toyota Prius Hybrid to determine whether the vehicle suffers momentary loss of braking capability while traveling over bumpy surfaces.

NHTSA, an agency that is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, has received 124 consumer complaints, including four reports of crashes. Investigators have interviewed consumers and completed pre-investigative field work, the agency said in a statement.

The braking investigation comes on top of a much broader federal investigation of problems with unintended acceleration in a host of Toyota vehicles. Toyota Motor Corp. issued recalls of more than 9 million vehicles worldwide in October and January.

By Neil Roland- Automotive News