Mountain States Toyota

ABS helps prevent brakes from locking up by "pulsing" brake pressure to each wheel to help you stay in control in emergency braking situations.

When something unexpected appears in your path, you instinctively swerve to avoid it and jam on the brakes. However, without ABS, the brakes can lock up, the vehicle starts to skid, and you struggle to stay in control. (Figure 1)

Toyota's ABS sensors detect which wheels are locking up and prevent the lockup by "pulsing" the brakes at each wheel independently. Pulsing releases brake pressure repeatedly for fractions of a second - a reaction time not possible for humans. (Figure 2)

This means the wheels never stop rotating and that helps the car to avoid going into a skid, helping you stay in control. (Figure 3)