With every new vehicle launched in New Zealand, aspects of the car like technology and safety are generally improved over the previous models. One of the continuously evolving lifesaving features are vehicle steering systems, which can keep the vehicle in its intended lane and assist in collision avoidance.

These systems have an array of names across the motoring world, but Lane Keep Assist (LKA) and Lane Departure Warning (LDW) are two of the most common terms used.

It starts with a warning

At the turn of the millennium, Japanese car manufacturers started to introduce safety features like lane monitoring and lane keeping support systems in passenger cars.

These systems utilised video sensors mounted on the windscreen near the rear view mirror, laser sensors in the front bumper, or infrared sensors mounted behind the windscreen or underneath the vehicle. They act as another pair of eyes scanning the road and can detect when the vehicle passes over a broken or solid white line and will issue a warning to the driver. This warning can be by way of an audible chime, a visual display or flashing light, or even a vibration felt through either the seat or steering wheel.

These systems are known as Passive Safety Systems as they serve as a warning only and have no provision or capability to act on the drivers behalf in order to avoid a collision.

The car will if you don’t…

With the adoption of Electric Power Steering (EPS) as opposed to traditional hydraulic power steering, the way has been paved to take vehicle safety systems to the next level.

Active Assist or Autonomous Safety Systems are similar to Passive Safety Systems. Similar audible warnings are issued, but if your reactions are too slow, the vehicle will automatically takes steps to ensure that it stays in its intended lane.

In some cars, the Active Lane Keep (ALK) is available in conjunction with the Adaptive/Radar Cruise Control, which gives you a small sense of autonomous driving as the car maintains its position in the lane. More and more new vehicles now come equipped with LKA systems that can be used even without the cruise control and work in some suburban streets where road markings are clear. 

When it’s active, you may experience a light resistance in the steering system and the vehicle senses it might be weaving within its lane. Some vehicle systems allow the user to set the strength level of the assist.

If you think you don’t have to drive with your hands on the wheel anymore, this is not the case. The driver must be in control of the vehicle at all times. The system assists the driver, and doesn’t take sole charge of the driving.

These systems issue a warning and will deactivate if the driver removes their hands from the steering wheel after a short period of time, but it does give a small indication of how an autonomous vehicle could operate if and when we get that far.

The car will if you can’t…

The further utilisation of this autonomous system is where a vehicle will actively swerve to avoid a head on collision, only if it’s safe to do so.

You may have seen a recent video of a Tesla nearly involved in a rear end collision being safely guided to the side of the road to avoid hitting the stationary car in front.

Some cars can even safely guide themselves to a stop on the side of the road if it detects the driver has become unresponsive at the wheel.

The importance of reliable infrastructure

These systems are great safety features, but do rely on road markings being clear and consistent on all roads driven on.

They typically cannot decipher faded, missing, or incorrect lane markings. Markings covered in snow, dirt, and leaves or old lane markings left visible can also hinder the ability of the system. However, this technology is continually becoming increasingly advanced - some of the latest systems can even display on screen the difference between solid and dotted lines as the road markings change.

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