I trigger the ABS & traction light going 1 mph

This morning I was taking my kids to school, I stop at light I lift the brake and stepped on the brake again because car moved forward and stop again , without tire lockup the traction light came on my dash with beep sound. I was saying wow this is not good, afther dropping off my kids I tried on my home street I stop the car and did same thing again brake,( lift without taking your foot of the brake ) and pumped the brake again once or twice, without a effort the traction and ABS light came on with beep and soon as you move forward light turns off. I also pumped the brake pedal two to three times with car in drive mode with little movement on the car the lights came on with beep I took the video on my cell phone but it was too shakey so tomorrow I will shoot with my cam. I don’t know this is normal or not but my other cars doesn’t do this type of behavior. I will call the toyota service see what they say. I will post the vid on youtube as soon as I can.

I didn't pump the brake on the first time. I was in normal traffic and car infront of me moved and I moved but I pushed the brake hard without taking my foot off the brake pedal. yes normal driving I never pump my brakes on any of my car. this was kind of odd so I tried again.

Hill assist!!! what it's doing is beeping to let you know you turned it on. It will hold the car still on a hill untill you press on the gas, or for a second or two. It will prevent you from rolling backwards.

Not to be mean, but i really think thats is whats going on, try reading your manual front to back if you can find the time.

Yup you called it

you are not mean. I call the power toyota and it was not normal to have a ABS and traction light come on they will reflash my car tomorrow. Oh by the way I was not on the hill nor snow or rain deniel on our prius doesn't make our car any safer.

Snow or rain were not required. You triggered the hill assist, which *does* flash the traction light and beep.

Tom

Get in your car and drive then stop. Pushing the peddle down hard and holding it there will give you a beep and the light with the car and the lines bellow it will come on. That means you just turned on hill assist. let off the break and give it gas it will release the brakes, or if you let off the brake after a second or two it will release the hill assist feature. The whole point of it is to prevent your car rolling backwards into another car. You can use hill assist in any conditions.

1. Is your abs light coming on? or just the hill assist/traction light?
2. There's nothing wrong with your car if only the hill assist light is coming on.
3. I'm not in deniel of a problem just trying to save you a trip to the dealers, read your owners manual on the hill assist feature, so you don't waste your gas/time.
4. If you do make a video and put it on youtube, please lable it hill assist/ not brake failure for the love of god...

This is normal. Sometimes when I stop at the ATM or a light and I am reaching for something my foot pushes hard on the brakes and the ABS engages. No big deal.
When some idiot pulls out in front of me on the road and I have to stop quick, I put my foot on the brake firmly and the car stops very efficiently.

It's not the abs it's the "Hill assist" read manual.

That's the point of this brake issue. hill assist or not either computer is thinking too much ahead or programed too sensitive before actual wheel lockup releaseing the brake giving no brake sensition. I will find out tomorrow after reflash if this continues.

Part of the problem is the lack of knowledge of Toyota dealerships (although I don't own one, just trying to purchase one made me realize how little the salesmen know about the vehicles they are trying to sale). If the OP called the dealer and they simply explained the "Hill Assist" feature and pointed her to the appropriate page in the owner's manual they would probably have saved themselves a service visit. Of course, like any other "phone diagnosis" they would have to clarify with the standard disclaimer that she should bring it in for them to look at if she suspects anything out of the ordinary is wrong. The other part is that Toyota dealerships should report such instances to headquarters so that they can tally up the frequency of features that often cause confusion with drivers, especially those who may not be familiar with all the available features on the car and then release a short, quick-guide that covers these most confusing features as it's quite clear most drivers are NOT reading the manual.

I'm confused on what your saying, but maybe while your there you could get someone to show you the hill assist. Or maybe and i do mean maybe they can explain it better than i can. The issue you talked about in this thread has nothing to do with the recall. The only way to fix it in your mind, would to be for you to buy another car that does not have hill assist. Your prius will always flash the trac light and beep at you when you push hard and hold down on the pedal.

Aah, so that's what it is. I usually am in an odd place pulled over to look at the map, with my foot on the brake so that I don't drift into outer space. I thought it had something to do with wiggling the steering wheel or something while stopped on gravel. I never have been much for RTFM, lol. Thank you, adamace1.

Seems as if the OP is still moving when it happens, then it isn't Hill Assist. Otherwise, it likely is.

I found this feature by accident during the "hold the brakes while starting the car" routine. Seems I push kinda hard as my previous car has manual brakes. I did kind of work out what was going on, even though I thought it was a little too easy to go to the floor. But I suspect the whole thing works as designed.

Also funny is that I love pointing out "new features" that were invented 70 years ago, the Studebaker's Hill Holder being at the top of the list. Though modern society requires we use the word "Assist" as a built in disclaimer!

One more point. If a firmware reflash (I don't mean an update) fixes a problem in any safety-related controller, THAT would be cause for worry!

1. Dealer employees tend to not know much about their products.
2. The manual is not designed to provide useful information quickly.
3. Using the VSC light for HSA is confusing.
4. The best source of 2010 information is the "problems" thread.

I complained about the VSC light illuminating when the car was stopped on my test drive. The salesman didn't have an answer but had the Service Dept. look at it. The service guy didn't know it was HSA & told me that the computer detected a little motion. Seeing HSA described in the referenced thread resolved that "problem" for me.

Only the yellow skidding car icon should light with one beep on & one beep off. I use it almost all the time.

I thought the OP was going 1mph then hit the brakes, thus stopping. I would bet money they are just using the hill assist, but wont listen on here, and wont read their manual, but will drive 30mins and wait at the dealers for an hour.

And deserves to waste every single moment.

Just go to ABC or NBC and whine :cheer2: