Help! Emergency Brake left on for 30 miles, and warning lights on!

Patrick's explanation seems to mirror what I experienced in May.

I was driving along when I first noticed that the AC had stopped working. No warning lights. All the settings were the same on the climate screen. The AC fan was working.

After about 5 minutes several warning lights came on. Can't recall them all, as I could not understand the symbols without the manual, except that the brake light was definitely lit. The car was driveable.

Then I shut the engine down for a minute or so and when I turned it on, the text on the screen said "PROBLEM" and advised me to have the car checked. But the car was still driveable and I took it in to the service dept right away which was only 10 minutes away.

Had to check the car in. But within an hour the techie called to say that the inverter coolant pump had failed and the car must not be driven. There were no other problems.

It took two weeks to get a replacement unit from the factory. They loaned me another Prius for a week. For the other week i had to walk out to use the public transport and everywhere else in between - but I guess this would help extend my stay in the old folks home by a month in some distant future.