Vehicle Lane Assist – Boeing 737 Max

[Hymie]

My 10 year old car is not fitted with such a function; the only time I have seen such in operation was a few years ago in a car driven by a friend – who demonstrated it while travelling on a motorway. The vehicle gave an audible warning as he deliberately allowed the vehicle to drift out of its lane, including a display of the vehicle position in relation to the motorway lanes.

Fast forward to now, a colleague mentioned that a relative of his had recently purchased a fully battery powered vehicle which included ‘lane assist’. His relative had complained that the lane assist function could not be switched off by default, only each time the vehicle was started.

More worryingly, the lane assist function of this vehicle will automatically steer the vehicle into the required lane. On two occasions, the driver reported that he had nearly crashed into cyclists (that the vehicle has not detected) and that he had to apply considerable force to the steering wheel in order to override the vehicle lane assist control.

[barry1010]

I'm wondering why a plane is being driven down the motorway - or needs lane assist.

[Gromit]

The 737 Max was grounded after the plane over rode the pilots commands and crashed the aircraft.
I assume the OP was likening the car to that.

[barry1010]

What car has your colleague got? That is much more than simple lane assist which is designed to simply keep the car in the middle of the lane - there is 'active lane assist' which will automatically steer the car back in to the lane if it starts drifting. It shouldn't change lanes of its own accord though.

[Ryzen]

Generally the lane assist will only take over if your movements are not confirmed by your indicators..i.e. if you drift out of lane without indicating, the system will try to correct the drift or give a warning.

[gingejbee]

Presumably the answer is to switch off the function each time the car is started...many people switch off the stop-start function after they've started the car if they don't want it to operate...it's a case of getting into the habit.

[Ellipsis]

Why does the question have "Boeing 737 Max" written in it ... ?