Vehicles

Mitsubishi Motors North America is recalling certain model year 2012 i-MiEV electric vehicles that were manufactured from Dec. 2, 2011, through Sept. 7, 2012, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration . The brake system vacuum pump on those vehicles may fail, rendering the vacuum pump inoperable. If the vacuum pump system fails, the recall notice says, it will reduce available brake power, which would result in lengthened stopping distances and could increase the risk of a vehicle crash.

Winter X Games snowmobiler Caleb Moore, 25, died Thursday as a result of injuries suffered a week earlier in ESPN's popular action sports event in Aspen, Colo. Moore suffered internal bleeding around his heart and also a brain injury when his 450-pound vehicle failed to complete a flip off a 70-foot ramp and slammed atop his head and chest area. The death of the four-time X Games medalist was the first in the event's 17-year history. It brought an outpouring of condolences on Twitter from action-sports stars including Travis Pastrana, Jeremy "Twitch" Stenberg and Carey Hart.

General Motors announced a pair of recalls Thursday covering more than 12,000 vehicles. The first recall is for 8,519 Chevy Malibu sedans from the 2013 model year. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said one or more bolts in the vehicles' rear suspension may not have been fastened tight enough. This could cause "sudden changes in the vehicle handling" which may lead to a crash, NHTSA said. No injuries or crashes have been reported as a result of this issue, said GM spokesman Alan Adler.

The bestselling vehicle in America is Ford's big F-Series pickup. California's favorite car is a hybrid that can almost fit in the bed of that truck. Underscoring the state's eco-consciousness, pricey gas and crowded commutes, Toyota's Prius has toppled the Honda Civic from its two-year reign as the bestselling vehicle in California. Since its introduction more than a decade ago, the hybrid has developed a loyal following in California, which accounts for more than a quarter of U.S. Prius sales.

GOMA, Congo - It's an ungainly beast of a machine: a wooden bicycle with handlebars like great bull's horns, two runtish wooden wheels, a chunky frame like a squashed triangle and no pedals. There's no seat either, just a kneepad fixed to the frame, made from a spongy Chinese flip-flop. The Congolese chikudu looks like it rolled right off the pages of a child's drawing book and onto the rutted roads of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Uzima Bahati, 18, was a child himself when he became a chikudu operator.

The Ford Edge, which generally has garnered good reviews as a comfortable and affordable crossover vehicle, is at the top of this year's list of the cheapest cars to insure. The SE model of the Edge beat out some 750 vehicles reviewed by the price-comparison site Insure.com for the 2013 model year. Crossovers and sport-utility vehicles dominated as the least expensive vehicles to insure - including models from Kia, Hyundai and Chrysler's Jeep brand - highlighting a shift away from minivans as the go-to vehicle for families.

Honda announced Friday it's recalling more than 748,843 Pilot and Odyssey vehicles to correct a problem with the driver's-side airbag. The automaker says some of the vehicles may be missing a rivet that holds the airbag's plastic cover in place when it deploys. This could lead to the airbag inflating improperly and could cause the plastic cover to come loose and strike the driver or passengers. The recall affects 276,153 Odyssey minivans made from 2011 to 2013 and 472,690 Pilot SUVs made from 2009 to 2013.

Automakers issued 586 safety recalls for more than 16.2 million vehicles last year, slightly higher than the previous year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced Thursday. Most recalls start with consumer complaints, the NHTSA said in a release. Last year, the agency received 41,912 complaints concerning potential safety defects, compared with 49,417 in 2011 and 65,765 in 2010. "The role of the consumer in influencing auto recalls cannot be underestimated," NHTSA Administrator David Strickland said in the release.

Electric vehicles and hybrids are quiet - a little too quiet for the U.S. Department of Transportation. The agency on Monday announced proposals for minimum sound requirements on hybrid and electric vehicles. Without an internal combustion engine running, many vehicles can operate under full or partial electric power with little to no sound to warn pedestrians or cyclists, particularly the visually impaired. “This proposal will help keep everyone using our nation's streets and roadways safe, whether they are motorists, bicyclists or pedestrians,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement.

Subaru on Thursday announced that it was recalling 633,842 vehicles to check for a problem with a fuse in a puddle light that could short-circuit and lead to a fire. The move affects Subaru Legacy and Outbacks made in 2010 and 2011, Tribeca models made from 2006 to 2012, and Forester models made from 2009 to 2012. The company believes that only 54,000 vehicles are actually equipped with the small accessory lamps under the side of the vehicle, said Subaru spokesman Michael McHale.