Brakes Failed problems of the 2015 Toyota Prius

Brakes failed to slow or stop vehicle at ?20 mph; driving on a side street. No warning lights were active that morning. Crash into telephone phone resulted in "totaled" car. There was broken branches on road and some mud; car may have skidded. My wife says the car seemed to speed up before the crash.

The brakes on my 2015 Prius totally failed and I had to swerve to avoid crashing into the car stopped in front of me. I've been driving for more than 30 years and have never experienced anything like this. It was terrifying. To wit: I was driving about 20 m. P. H. On city streets in long beach, California, in April 2019. As I drove over a bridge, traffic was coming to a stop at a red light 200 yards in front of me. I drove over a narrow metal plate--there are several on the bridge--and hit the brakes, but my car didn't slow. A warning light flashed--a stability control light, I believe, due to the metal plate. I pressed the brakes to the floor as my car rolled downhill on pavement. My car did not slow at all. I looked in the driver side mirror and saw that the lane to my left was clear, so I swerved into it with my foot on the brakes. The car slowly came to a stop well beyond where I should have stopped had my brakes worked properly. The incident was so terrifying that I had to pull over to collect myself. My brakes worked properly after that. A few days later, I took my car to penske Toyota in downey, California, where I bought the car, and told a service agent what happened. I asked him to fix the problem. After service technicians inspected the brakes that day, I was told the brakes appeared to be fine and, barring a recall, nothing could be done. I've been driving the car since then, but I've worried that the brakes could fail again. Then I saw the Jan. 3, 2020 article below. As a result, I've rented a car and have stopped driving my Prius. This is a terrifying, life-threatening problem that needs to be addressed now. . Read more...

The contact owns a 2015 Toyota Prius. While driving approximately 5 to 10 mph and approaching the driveway, the brakes failed. The vehicle accelerated and crashed into a gate. The brake pedal was re-applied and the vehicle stopped. The contact stated that the vehicle traveled 20 feet before it stopped. A police report was not filed and there were no injuries. The air bag failed to deploy. The vehicle was towed to the dealer for diagnostic testing and repair. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 17,000.