APNewsBreak: Transportation Dept opens investigation into Prius brake problems

February 4th, 2010 more images more images more images more images Toyota says Prius had design brake problems TOKYO — Toyota says there were design problems with the antilock brake system in the new Prius, which went on sale last year. Toyota Motor Corp.

April 17th, 2009 VANCOUVER - In a freak incident, a young Canadian woman was killed by her laptop during an accident in the Indian-dominated city of Surrey near here, investigation reports said Thursday. According to police, investigation has established that 25-year-old Heather Storey was killed when she was hit by her laptop while driving to work last month.

September 30th, 2009 Govt warns Toyota owners about stuck acceleratorsWASHINGTON — The government is warning owners of Toyota and Lexus vehicles about safety problems tied to removable floor mats. They say the mats could interfere with the vehicle's accelerator and cause a crash.

December 16th, 2009 Documents in probe of wayward plane to be releasedWASHINGTON — Federal safety officials say they will release information gathered in their investigation of the Northwest Airlines plane that flew more than 100 miles past Minneapolis while pilots worked on their laptops. The National Transportation Safety Board says it will make public on Wednesday about 400 pages of interviews with Flight 188's pilots and flight attendants, as well as air traffic controllers, among other information.

February 2nd, 2010 more images more images more images more images AP Interview: LaHood says Toyota slow to respond WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says Toyota was slow to realize safety problems with its gas pedals that has led to the recall of millions of popular Toyota brands. LaHood tells The Associated Press that Toyota was "a little safety deaf" and that federal safety officials needed to "wake them up" to the seriousness of the pedal problems.

August 26th, 2009 Toyota recalls 95,700 Toyota, Scion vehiclesTORRANCE, Calif. — Toyota Motor Corp.

September 3rd, 2009 Toyota Prius top-selling car in Japan for 4 monthsTOKYO — An auto industry group says Toyota's hugely popular Prius hybrid ranked as Japan's top-selling car in August for the fourth straight month. The Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Friday the Prius kept the top spot in auto sales with 21,669 vehicles sold.

October 5th, 2009 Toyota formally recalls 3.8 million vehiclesWASHINGTON — Toyota Motor Corp. is officially recalling 3.8 million vehicles in the United States to address problems with floor mats that could cause the gas pedal to get stuck and cause a crash.

October 28th, 2009 SYDNEY - Want to be James Bond? Well, you can imitate him to a certain level thanks to a newly developed iPhone 'app' that allows a driver to control a full-fledged passenger car just via his or her smartphone. Created by German university researchers to take part in a US military driverless car challenge, the amazing automotive app can let a user drive a vehicle remotely via one of the clever phones.

January 29th, 2010 more images more imagesAPNewsBreak: Toyota sends gas pedals to factoriesDETROIT — The Associated Press has learned that Toyota is sending new gas pedal systems to car factories rather than dealerships who want the parts to take care of millions of customers whose pedals may stick. Toyota spokesman Brian Lyons confirms information in a company e-mail obtained by the AP that says parts were shipped to factories.

November 13th, 2009 more images more imagesReport: Toyota plans bigger Prius with new batteryTOKYO — Toyota is planning a larger version of its popular Prius hybrid, which will be powered by a new kind of battery, a Japanese newspaper reported Friday. The new Prius, either a station wagon or SUV, is set to go on sale by the end of next year.

February 2nd, 2010 more images more imagesUS probes Chevy Cobalt steering complaintsWASHINGTON — Federal regulators have opened an investigation into complaints that power steering systems in the Chevrolet Cobalt can fail, making it more difficult to control the car. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says there are 1,132 complaints about the Cobalt's electric power steering, including reports of eleven accidents and one injury.

April 21st, 2009 No price hike on 2010 Prius; cheaper model to come NEW YORK — Toyota Motor Corp. said it won't change the price tag on its next-generation Prius when the hybrid hits U.S.

October 27th, 2009 more images more images New safety worry: Laptops, devices in the cockpit WASHINGTON — Federal investigators declined to seize and review the laptop computers that distracted two Northwest Airlines pilots so much that they didn't notice it was time to land their plane, and instead flew 150 miles past their destination. The pilots of Northwest flight 188 told the National Transportation Safety Board that they were so engrossed in a complicated new crew-scheduling program on their laptops — a cockpit violation of airline policy that could cost them their licenses — that they lost track of time and place for more than an hour, until a flight attendant on an intercom got their attention.

August 6th, 2009 Toyota Prius top-selling car in Japan for 3 monthsTOKYO — Toyota's hugely popular Prius hybrid ranked as Japan's top-selling car in July, clinching the spot for the third consecutive month as tax breaks boosted sales of green vehicles, an auto industry group said Thursday. The Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Toyota Motor Corp., the world's No.