Toyota recalls more than 1 million Prius, C-HR vehicles due to fire risk.

Bloomberg News (9/5, Buckland, Horie, 4.46M) reports that Toyota Motor Corp. has issued a recall on 1.03 million Prius and C-HR vehicles “due to the risk of fire.” The recall will affect 554,000 vehicles in Japan and 192,000 in the US. The cars feature an engine wire harness that is at risk of wear over time

Nissan recalls 165,000 newer vehicles over risk they could turn off while in use.

MLive (MI) (9/4, 983K) reports that Nissan “says it will recall about 165,000 newer vehicles due to the risk they could turn off while in motion.” The automaker “confirmed the recall of the 2017-18 Juke, Frontier, Sentra, Versa, Versa Note, Micra, NV, NV200 and the NV taxi in the U.S. and Canada to both Consumer Reports and CNET’s Roadshow.” Nissan “says it is not aware of any incidents related to the recall, and that this measure is simply ‘out of an abundance of caution.’”

19,400 2012 Toyota Avalons being recalled over front seat belt issue.

Cars (9/4, 925K) reports that “approximately 19,400 model-year 2012 Toyota Avalon sedans” are being recalled due to “a service part manufacturing error at a Toyota supplier,” which may have led to some Avalons having “a front seat belt inner buckle replaced with one that does not correctly identify if the seat belt is buckled.” This could “affect how the airbag system determines the appropriate airbag deployment method in a crash, increasing the risk of injury to the occupant where the front seat belt inner buckle was replaced.”

Man claims Tesla was in auto-pilot mode when it crashed into fire truck.

The San Jose (CA) Mercury News (8/25, Sanchez, 552K) reports Michael Tran, the 37 year-old driver of a Tesla who crashed his vehicle into a fire truck, said, “I think I had auto-pilot on” at the time of the accident early Saturday morning in San Jose. A Tesla spokesperson said the company “has not yet received any data from the car, but we are working to establish the facts of the incident.” The New York Post (8/27, Press, 4.46M) reports similarly

Fiat Chrysler recalls 205K new SUVs, vans in US, Canada, Mexico due to brake issue.

MLive (MI) (8/27, Raven, 983K) reports that Fiat Chrysler “says it is recalling more than 150,000 newer SUVs and minivans in the United States and another 55,000 in Canada and Mexico due to a brake issue.” The automaker “says in a news release the recall affects the 2018 Dodge Journey, 2018-2019 Dodge Grand Caravan, 2018-2019 Jeep Compass and 2019 Jeep Cherokee.” The automaker reports in the news release, “An investigation by FCA US discovered certain shipments of a supplied brake-system component had not been manufactured to specification and were inadvertently installed on vehicles during spring 2018.”

Autonomous car advocates want pedestrians to adhere to traffic laws.

Bloomberg News (8/16, Kahn, 4.46M) reports that some autonomous car advocates believe the large-scale adaption of self-driving vehicles could be sped up if pedestrians can be convinced “to behave less erratically,” such as avoiding jaywalking and crossing streets at designated crossings where autonomous vehicles will be more likely to detect the person. The piece mentions that the US Department of Transportation’s latest guidance on automated vehicles “has stressed the need for such consumer education.” Bloomberg says that the “novelty” of autonomous vehicles can lead pedestrians to “test the technology’s artificial reflexes,” noting that Waymo vehicles “routinely encounters pedestrians who deliberately try to ‘prank’ its cars, continually stepping in front of them, moving away and then stepping back in front of them, to impede their progress.”

Mazda, Suzuki and Yamaha admit to using falsified emissions data.

The Hill (8/9, Keller, 2.71M) reports officials in Japan yesterday announced “that Suzuki Motor Corp., Mazda Motor Corp., and Yamaha Motor Co. have admitted to using falsified emissions data in vehicle inspections, according to multiple reports.” The Hill adds that “the three admissions came in the midst of an internal investigation ordered by the government, the Associated Press reported.” According to a report from Reuters, “Suzuki most often inspected vehicles with manipulated emissions data,” and the report added that “the company confirmed that almost half of its 12,819 new car inspections were improper dating back to 2012.” The Hill adds that “none of the automakers reportedly found problems in their vehicles’ correct emissions and fuel economy performance that warranted a recall.”