[Misc] Lane keep assist on cars

[raymondo]

Use it all the time on my Kia Ceed in association with its auto lane control feature. Excellent on long trips on motorways, even if there are bends in the road you don't need to move the steering wheel at any point. Keep the steering wheel pointing straight and the car automatically steers all the bends for you.

that's just too weird for me

 

[Happy Exile]

Why would you not indicate when you change lanes after overtaking on a motorway? Any lane change should be signalled.

When I learned to drive - I learned in my 30s, less than 20 years ago so relatively recently - I was taught by a retired policeman who told me only to indicate if not doing so is a hazard because another vehicle not alerted to your movement might make one of their own...his reasoning was that to indicate "uselessly" for no-ones benefit implies a lack of awareness and attention of hazards. I'm just passing on what I was taught, don't shoot the messenger!

 

[BrightonCottager]

Does it automatically keep the car in the second lane on the M23 and M25? If so, that explains a lot.

 

[zefarelly]

I had no idea my car had lane assist ( 3 years ago now) when it went off I nearly crashed! made me jump . . . I was using both lanes ino a sweeping bend and doing about 90 . . Took me a day to work out how to turn the shitter off!

useless feature for people who shouldn't be on the roads.

re indicating . . . It's for other peoples benefit . . . Pointless doing it at 3 am on an empty road, as long as you're sure there's no foxes crossing.

 

[Questions]

I’ve driven for miles on near empty dual carriageways just to see how far I can go without actually steering. ( I have my hands on the steering just in case)

I’m probably not a safe driver tbh

 

[schmunk]

When I learned to drive - I learned in my 30s, less than 20 years ago so relatively recently - I was taught by a retired policeman who told me only to indicate if not doing so is a hazard because another vehicle not alerted to your movement might make one of their own...his reasoning was that to indicate "uselessly" for no-ones benefit implies a lack of awareness and attention of hazards. I'm just passing on what I was taught, don't shoot the messenger!

Which is, of course, absolute bollocks, because it relies upon an arrogant assumption that you have not made any mistakes in your observations and that you have a perfect understanding of other road users' intentions and own understanding of the situation around them.

 

[Happy Exile]

Which is, of course, absolute bollocks, because it relies upon an arrogant assumption that you have not made any mistakes in your observations and that you have a perfect understanding of other road users' intentions and own understanding of the situation around them.

I don't disagree at all (and I indicate even when turning from a junction into an empty road at 4am!)

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

Use it all the time on my Kia Ceed in association with its auto lane control feature. Excellent on long trips on motorways, even if there are bends in the road you don't need to move the steering wheel at any point. Keep the steering wheel pointing straight and the car automatically steers all the bends for you.

Is moving the steering wheel really such a chore ?

 

[mikeyjh]

Which is, of course, absolute bollocks, because it relies upon an arrogant assumption that you have not made any mistakes in your observations and that you have a perfect understanding of other road users' intentions and own understanding of the situation around them.

This - I see people on a daily basis not bothering to indicate. Yes, they are very quiet roads round here but not only is your point correct but not automatically indicating implies that you're going through a process of deciding whether it's worth indicating or not which is, surely, an unnecessary distraction?

 

[Easy 10]

I think there is some truth to this, but the steering correction is really not intrusive (on my VW Tiguain, or previous VW Passat, at least) and if you ARE alert and driving more or less in the centre of your lane, then you wouldn't even know the feature was there.

If however you did lose concentration, or heaven forbid doze of for a second, it will drag you back to the centre of the lane and sound a warning. If you are actually meaning to drift across a lane, but didn't bother indicating, it would catch you out, but that's hardly the car's fault! You can over-ride it (without indicating) by making a deliberate adjustment with the wheel.

The car will also sound an alarm, and in an emergency auto-brake if you're at risk of piling into the back of someone, will turn the lights on itself if its getting dark and I haven't, turn the wipers on if it starts raining, and will light up a warning light built into the wing mirror, if something is in the adjacent lane in the blind spot.

Now I hope I'm an alert enough driver to cope just fine without any of those features, but I see no reason to switch any of them off. One day I (any of you) might just be grateful for them.

Now that blind spot thing I DO like. Excellent idea, and removes the necessity of that quick check over the shoulder before pulling out.

The rest of it I'm happy to deal with myself manually tbh. A lot of it is gadgetry for the sake of it IMO.

 

[Easy 10]

I was joking!

Hah! OK fair play. It didn't come across that way when I read it.

 

[gazingdown]

Now that blind spot thing I DO like. Excellent idea, and removes the necessity of that quick check over the shoulder before pulling out..

You’re joking right? It’s meant to assist you AS WELL AS looking over the shoulder, NOT instead of.

Some cars don’t always light up for all vehicles (and also bulb can get broken, or system cease to work etc.) so always do the over shoulder check before changing lanes.

As for lane keep assist, on main roads, well lit etc. they can work as designed, however once you get to country roads, poorly lit, white lines barely visible, pothole means you want to straddle middle line if nothing coming other way etc. then it can get rather confused and sometimes downright dangerous if it tries to correct you.

 

[Easy 10]

You’re joking right? It’s meant to assist you AS WELL AS looking over the shoulder, NOT instead of.

Some cars don’t always light up for all vehicles (and also bulb can get broken, or system cease to work etc.) so always do the over shoulder check before changing lanes.

Bit pointless then really, isn't it.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Make sure you indicate when you overtake more than ever, if you have this functionality turned on!

 

[Driver8]

I use Autopilot in my Tesla on the motorway. It’s mostly great until a car or lorry starts to veer towards you on an inside lane and it brakes unexpectedly. Unfortunately Netflix only works when stationary though.

 

[gazingdown]

Bit pointless then really, isn't it.

We all make mistakes when driving and don’t spot everything, and despite looking sometimes someone dives/flies into that blind spot as you are about to manoeuvre. So, it has a point in these scenarios.

As I a say, it’s to supplement your driving skills, not replace them.

 

[Flounce]

Now that blind spot thing I DO like. Excellent idea, and removes the necessity of that quick check over the shoulder before pulling out.

The rest of it I'm happy to deal with myself manually tbh. A lot of it is gadgetry for the sake of it IMO.

Blind spot monitoring is fantastic, the best safety feature of all imo. Quick glance in the wing mirror before pulling out and as long as there is not a yellow triangle illuminated you know there is not a car in your blind spot.

 

[Flounce]

You’re joking right? It’s meant to assist you AS WELL AS looking over the shoulder, NOT instead of.

Some cars don’t always light up for all vehicles (and also bulb can get broken, or system cease to work etc.) so always do the over shoulder check before changing lanes.

As for lane keep assist, on main roads, well lit etc. they can work as designed, however once you get to country roads, poorly lit, white lines barely visible, pothole means you want to straddle middle line if nothing coming other way etc. then it can get rather confused and sometimes downright dangerous if it tries to correct you.

I check it’s working every time I get on a dual carriageway or motorway when leaving home, you may be right but if it is working I don’t look over my shoulder anymore. If there’s nothing in my blind spot I can see in the wing mirror whether it’s safe to pull out or not

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

So, in those models where the car decides to steer for you.

Does it force you to knock cyclist off if you try to give them the new 2 metre wide-berth?
And does it force you to drive into pot-holes even if you try to miss them with a minor correction to your road position that it doesn't like?

 

[Badger]

I check it’s working every time I get on a dual carriageway or motorway when leaving home, you may be right but if it is working I don’t look over my shoulder anymore. If there’s nothing in my blind spot I can see in the wing mirror whether it’s safe to pull out or not

I wholly disagree with this approach. As @gazingdown says, these tools are designed to assist, not replace, manual checking of blind spots.