Had an instrument failure recently and it was.

The brakes were fine. The instrument cluster failed three weeks ago while driving on the interstate. It took lots of negotiation and work to get it repaired. When I tried to pick up the car today, the rear brakes locked up and I couldn't move the car. The emergency brake was very tight and I couldn't apply it completely. I was told the right rear brake pad had failed and both it and the rotor needed to replaced. I can't believe that this was just a coincidence. Can all of this be related?