Toyota class-action anti-lock brake lawsuit tossed out

A US district court judge in California threw out a class-action lawsuit from owners of Toyota Prius and Lexus HS 250h hybrids who had filed a claim against the Japanese automaker over a 2010 recall involving the vehicles' anti-lock braking system, Bloomberg News reports.

The claim, made by four vehicle owners on behalf of the rest of the owners, related to a 2010 recall that involved a software update for the vehicles' anti-lock brakes. The judge denied the claim because the plaintiffs suffered no injury, thus ending three years of litigation. A Toyota spokeswoman told Bloomberg News the company was "pleased" with the court's decision.

In early 2010, Toyota – at the time also reeling from floormat/unintended acceleration issues involving both Toyota and Lexus models – said some Prius models sold in January of that year had a braking-system design issue that had later been corrected. Both the US and Japanese governments that year required Toyota to investigate the issue, which involved a short, temporary loss of braking during the transition between regenerative and friction brakes on slick or bumpy surfaces.