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Helps reduce accidents that are caused by wheel lock-up during braking.

About 20 % of side-skidding accidents occur as a result of brake lockup while a driver is losing control of the vehicle (according to a Toyota survey : Figure 1). If the wheels lock up when the driver applies hard braking pressure during an emergency, steering control can be lost and braking distance can be lengthened, which may result in an accident. ABS helps prevent such accidents.

Automatically controls the brakes and prevents the wheels from locking.

ABS constantly monitors the wheels, and if it detects that the wheels are beginning to lock, it instantaneously modulates the braking pressure to eliminate the lock-up. By performing this action repeatedly within milliseconds, ABS improves steering control and helps the brakes achieve their excellent braking performance until the vehicle comes to a stop.

Note that the ABS is designed to merely assist the driver, and cannot achieve braking performance that is beyond the capability of the wheels. Therefore, it is important for the driver to maintain a speed and distance that are appropriate to the road conditions.