I have a Toyota Matrix 2010. I was in a car accident yesterday because the car did not stop when I put my foot on the brake. The ABS started but the car would not stop. I hit the car in front of me. There was no ice and I was following at a safe distance and I was going about 50k. I don't understand why the car would not stop. I figured it must be something to do with the breaking system. What can I do? The car is currently in the shop for repair due to the accident. Can I ask the mechanics at the shop to check the braking system or should I ask the guy from my insurance company? How can I prove that the brakes were defective and that it caused the accident?

I bought my 2010 Matrix XRS in October last year, with about 37k mls on it. Last November the brake pedal got 'soft'. I could brake by pumping, but with low pedal pressure it went down to the floor. The dealership concluded it was a master cylinder failure, and promised to fix it for free even though the warranty had just expired. Brakes were fine until April 2012 when exactly the same happened. Same diagnosis, same fix. No charge. Not 4 weeks later the same thing happened again. Now it was decided it was either mechanic error or part failure. Same fix. Well, on Aug 27 the same thing happened again. What is going on here? Four defective master cyls? A lemon car? Four human errors? Seems highly unlikely. Should I try another dealership? I'm ready to trade this car in even though I really like it and I had it less than a year. I also posted on Matrix users and somebody suggested that it could be the brake booster. I think the dealership is at a loss for a solution.