NHTSA Complaint #10621591 — 2010 TOYOTA PRIUS

ABOUT A MILE AFTER HAVING ENTERED THE FREEWAY AS I WAS MERGING TOWARDS THE CARPOOL LANE THE CAR SHUT OFF IN THE NUMBER THREE LANE.THE DASHBOARD DISPLAYED THE MESSAGE, "CHECK HYBRID SYSTEM", AND WOULD NOT RESPOND. MY SPEED WAS APPROXIMATELY 65 MPH WHEN THIS OCCURRED. I IMMEDIATELY PRESSED ON THE BRAKE BUT THE CAR WAS NOT SLOWING DOWN AS IT NORMALLY DOES. WHEN I FINALLY GOT OVER TO THE NUMBER 1 LANE, I ENTERED THE EMERGENCY LANE BUT WAS STILL HAVING TROUBLE COMING TO A STOP. I BRUSHED UP AGAINST THE FREEWAY WALL IN ORDER TO COME TO A COMPLETE STOP. AFTER SWITCHING THE CAR OFF AND ATTEMPTING TO RESTART IT, I WOULD GET NO RESPOND AND ALL THE DASHBOARD INDICATORS WOULD REMAIN ON WITH THE "CHECK HYBRID SYSTEM" DISPLAYED. THIS INCIDENT WAS TERRIFYING AS I WAS DRIVING WITH MY TWO YEAR OLD DAUGHTER AND TWO OTHER OCCUPANTS. THE CAR SHOULD HAVE DISPLAYED A WARNING AND NOT SIMPLY STALLED OUT. IF THIS INCIDENT HAD TAKEN PLACE A FEW MINUTES LATER, I WOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE HOV LANE AND COULD HAVE RESULTED IN A DEVASTATING ACCIDENT. *TR