Japan investigates reports of Prius brake problem

Piling on top of Toyota's recalls of more than 8 million vehicles worldwide, the Japanese Ministry of Transport is reportedly investigating the latest, third generation, 2010 Prius for possible brake failures. The Ministry has received 13 complaints in December and January about brake failures in Japan's bestselling model.

In the United States, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has also received 102 complaints about the 2010 Prius, not all involving braking issues. According to Toyota most of the complaints are similar and involve driving over bumpy and slippery road surfaces.

In other Prius news, Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple Computer, says he has experienced sudden unintended acceleration in his own Prius, and that he can duplicate the problem. If that's true, it would put him one step ahead of Toyota's engineers and NHTSA investigators. But he has yet to demonstrate this ability publicly.

On the other hand Wozniak may have his own reasons for claiming his Prius can accelerate unintentionally, after he was cited for going more than 100 mph in his hybrid in 2007.