‘Lane assist’ – how do I switch it off?

However (and I could be wrong here – I was told it some time ago) apparently it is a fail for the Advanced Driving Test as the driver should be able to show they have full awareness of everything around them at any given point

The IAM are (or were) happy for you to commentate/use spoken thoughts to demonstrate awareness. Signalling can be helpful and driving a large vehicle you always indicate unless it’ll cause confusion, e.g. don’t indicate to pass a parked car opposite a junction (which is painful if the car has lots of angles)

I don’t indicate to retake L1 after an overtake in a car; mirror and shoulder checks should prevent any problems

Mirror, Signal, Manoeuvre

The full DVSA-thing is Mirror, Signal, Manoeuvre, Position, Speed, Look…there are other variations

I wrote

you’ll start slowing down after you’ve indicated.

you wrote

Hmm… Mirror, Signal, Manoeuvre

Isn’t that what I wrote? As the driver behind, Signal is the first thing I see, then after that, Manoeuvre.

We have the lane assist on one of the cars plus blind spot warning etc… I don’t have any problem with it. I’d be fairly sure that it saves lives. It might irate some of us but I think these systems are generally good ideas. The only one that used to bug me was the speed sign recognition system on my old Merc that used to slow down the adaptive cruise control when it very occasionally mistook the speed limit signed on the back of lorries in other lanes and randomly slowed you down.

They can all be disabled or downgraded to audio warnings ony Hyundai but it is a 21.

Ah yes, “mirror – is it clear, signal – I’m about to move, manoeuvre – here I come”.
I once asked my local bus company if their drivers followed this particular bit of the Highway Code as they seemed to be doing a “signal – in coming whether you like it or not, manoeuvre – here I come, mirror – sorry mate, I didn’t see you”.

There response was that if they did it the right way round then there buses would be constantly stuck at the stops and they have force the issue by moving.

We have a couple of week old Audi A3 which has lane assist and it’s really flipping aggressive in terms of kicking in and overdoing the steering. We have had a multitude of Skoda’s, VWs etc all with the feature (sister in law works for VAG so we’re on the family lease scheme…6 months per car) and none were as reactive as this thing. It’s way too much over kill and it kicks in if you are still in lane but say there’s some new tarmac lines in the road where work has been done and it then tracks you in what it thinks is the road lane!! It’s also quite bad if you approach a big roundabout fanning into multiple lanes but you want to go straight on so might not indicate but it tries to stop you from naturally drifting across lanes. Indicating does help but like I said it kicks in all the time just for fun. There’s also a shit load of other really unwanted and unnecessary features that light the display up and scare the crap out of you for just being in traffic. Great car but I feel the tech is getting out of hand now.

I once asked my local bus company if their drivers followed this particular bit of the Highway Code as they seemed to be doing a “signal – in coming whether you like it or not, manoeuvre – here I come, mirror – sorry mate, I didn’t see you”.

Many years ago I was told by somebody who was training to be a bus driver, that they were taught to indicate, count 5 cars passing, then pull out regardless.

Many years ago I was told by somebody who was training to be a bus driver, that they were taught to indicate, count 5 cars passing, then pull out regardless.

I don’t have much of a problem with this. Not letting buses out is a dick move.

You are taught to give an indication if it will provide information about your intentions to others. This might mean you don’t do it if there are no other vehicles around because you are paying attention to your surroundings and not driving on autopilot.

I have to admit I regularly flip the indicator stalk if coming up behind parked cars, if someone is behind me, just because it’s happened often enough that I’ve been following someone, they’ve suddenly swung out because there was a car parked that I couldn’t see in front of them and it’s caught me unawares. The brief indicator function is ideal for that. I use it most of the time, unless I’m turning at a junction.

Qashqai are really bad for having an emotional meltdown whenever there are circumstances that activate one of the ‘driver aid’ features, like the lane assist – the first time I drove one without knowing it was fitted it gave me a real fright, I had no idea what was happening. This was six or seven years ago, when I was driving for BCA, picking up lots and lots of different cars from around nine years ago; lease and Motability cars, so I just picked up what was on my job sheet, so lots of surprises. Many not particularly nice ones, either.

As a result, I’ve got a Ford that has minimal ‘driver aids’, a semi-auto ‘box, hill start assist, a proper mechanical handbrake, actual knobs for climate control/aircon, and for infotainment, and real analogue dials. Oh, and a touchscreen that only gets used to select either the radio, phone audio or satnav.
I love it.

Think it was Jethro Bovington that stated in a recent issue of EVO that the only time you really need lane assist is when you’ve got your eyes off the road to try to turn it off!

we’ve just picked up a new to us (but from 2019) VW tiguan that has lane assist. I went for a quick drive in it, and thought it was just tramlining really badly under certain circumstances, but its the lane assist trying to do something when it shouldnt.

Then I went round a corner, and felt the steering wheel tugging a bit like you used to get with older FWD cars when turning under power – thought it was torque steer ,but no, its lane assist.

This is my first car with lane assist and its bloody awful – I presume from this thread that it will just turn itself back on next time I start the car.

I dont really see how this system can be considered a good thing, who needs it?

I dont really see how this system can be considered a good thing, who needs it?

All the folk who are texting as they’re driving down the motorway….

I dont really see how this system can be considered a good thing, who needs it?

Those who go around a corner and drift over slightly.

Left-right-left surely should be right-left-right though, unless I’ve misunderstood what you’re referring to?

I am talking about turning right at a junction Look left, then right, then left again to see if it’s safe to go.

We have just got a 22 plate Polo with this function on it, and I had already googled how to switch it off !

We live in the countryside and it always ‘tugs’ at the steering wheel. It is annoying that you cant switch it off full stop but I can live with it. In 5/6 yrs time this will be the car that our son learns to drive in, and quite frankly I cant see how this feature will help him learn as the car tries to pull him left and right.

Its not an intuitive system to use. In theory you can take your hands off and it will drive itself for a little while, but then it almost appears to give up and not work. IMO it appears to work when you want it least and not when you want it most.

Our other a Merc system is much better, there are 2 buttons on the dash where you can turn off either steering support and or adaptive cruise. The Merc you can easily drive for miles not touching the accelerator or brake, and to some extent steering wheel (although you have to touch it every 30 seconds). That system allows you to indicate and it will change lanes automatically too. I do know one section of motorway where it can be driving itself and it will slam the brakes on for no reason whatsoever, I always remember to disengage it now on that section.

The VAG option looks like meeting the minimum standard necessary to tick a box without making a useful tool. (I wish you could just switch it off) but its not the end of the world.

I dont really see how this system can be considered a good thing, who needs it?

Are you seriously suggesting all drivers are excellent and always pay attention? You. might not need it, but you’ll be glad of it when that person coming the other way who was drifting over the line and would’ve hit you has it.

They do vary in implementation. Hyundai get a lot wrong with their UI but their lane-assist is alright. If you take your hands off the wheel and it activates i.e. you’ve drifted, it will loudly complain at you but still jerk the wheel, I think for the first time. It loudly complains about a lot, but in this case I think it’s justified as not having your hands on the wheel in a corner is a significant issue :). When driving normally it does have its moments but it does ramp up the feedback somewhat rather than suddenly jerking.

It does rather sound as if VW’s implementation is poor. I think that if it’s now mandatory they will put a bit more effort into the system and perhaps deploy some better AI to analyse the road ahead.

@FunkyDunc I am disappointed that option wasn’t specced on my car – it’s far too complex to retrofit as well.

@FunkyDunc I am disappointed that option wasn’t specced on my car – it’s far too complex to retrofit as well.

At the time I bought the car I was looking at 5 series or E Class and this was the only car I saw in 6 months that had it as an option, I know I ended up paying quite a premium in the price of the car for it, but it has actually held its value higher too when looking at resale values on WBAC etc. Its been the best driving aid Ive had on a car in terms of taking the stress out of driving.

I dont really see how this system can be considered a good thing, who needs it?

To be fair when I first got my E-Class it felt huge and it did save me from driving in to a car in my blind spot on a roundabout. It steered and braked the car automatically and quite violently, but it definitely saved an impact.

A good system allows you to become very lazy on motorways you can almost drive with your eyes closed. In very heavy motorway traffic where you get that stupid surge to 50mph and then everyone slams on to 5 mph again the Merc already starts to slow itself down before I can see the traffic slowing.

However – as mentioned above if everyone used these systems our motorways would be safer. Even with the ACC set at the minimum gap distance you always get idiots pulling out in the gap in front !

When I get back in analogue cars I do notice the increased workload (stress) of driving. (although as yet I do not trust the VW system)

Ours is audible only, with a single switch to disable. The Toyota hire car I drove in the US was full driverless with radar cruise control and warnings as to when you need to put your hands back on the wheel! Mrs TiRed hates them with a passion. Probably the tugging of the steering wheel. Odd that she loves the adaptive cruise control though. It’s a slow march to full driverless.

I once asked my local bus company
…
There response was that if they did it the right way round then there buses would be constantly stuck at the stops and they have force the issue by moving.

I’ve posted this before, but I once had an E-class Merc as a company car (I wasn’t particularly important, the policy was that you got allocated whatever was free in the pool and I got lucky with a former director’s old motor).

I found that other drivers actively went out of their way to not give you a break. If they saw you coming they’d close up gaps rather than let you out. Indicators just tip the bastards off so they can be more awkward towards you.

So I found myself avoiding indicating, it was the only way I could ever get anywhere (or “make progress” as it were). All the common complaints about large German marques and indicators – it’s your own fault, it’s a problem of your own making.

Hyundai get a lot wrong with their UI
…
It loudly complains about a lot,

I’ve posted this before also, but I nicknamed my old Hyundai i40 “Crosby” because you couldn’t drive 20 yards without it going BING! for some paltry reason like leaving a speck of dust on the passenger seat without the seatbelt fastened.

Ah, you need a nice new leccy Megane ETech. Nice big actual button to the right of the steering wheel turns lane assist off or on, remembers what you set it to etc. Admittedly doesn’t go all the way off but it is very unobtrusive. Makes for a very relaxed drive on dual carriageways when you turn it on together with the adaptive cruise control.

Sounds like the mighty VW group have got it very wrong. I must admit I test drove a VW ID3 and a Cupra Born (I know, I know, same car) before ordering the Megane and it was the UI and lack of actual buttons that put me off them.

it was the UI and lack of actual buttons that put me off them

Luckily I can’t afford a modern car… any vehicle with just menus instead of physical buttons and switches just winds me up.

Luckily I can’t afford a modern car… any vehicle with just menus instead of physical buttons and switches just winds me up.

My newer car has about four ways of doing the same bloody thing either by using the touch screen, the physical buttons, the steering wheel controls or the touchpad in the centre console. And I still can’t find a way to intuitively skip songs, it still takes an age to find the hazard light button and I *always* get the front and rear demister buttons the wrong way around. I think I prefer our 12-year-old Quashqui with its simple controls.

I’ve posted this before also, but I nicknamed my old Hyundai i40 “Crosby” because you couldn’t drive 20 yards without it going BING! for some paltry reason

Do. Not. Get. Bing. Me. Bong. Started. Bingboong.

😀 We had a test car here a few months ago. The number of warnings was absolutely excruciating.
Told me off for not looking forwards (glanced at the sat nav)
Moving around in the seat (was just moving a bit)
Playing the music too loud (you’ll get distracted)
Lane change in some roadworks.
Driving too slowly, driving too fast (still below the limit)

All delivered in horrifically bad english (all the menus were in chinese, with no english option)

Funnily enough (for some reason this has just come back to me), I was out walking my dog a couple of days ago and I got to thinking that we are in a bit of a halfway house at the moment – no truly self-driving cars, but they are doing lots for us. In ten years’ time, all cars will be fully self-driving, we’ll just get in and be whisked off to wherever we want to go and the whole experience will be a whole less stressful. Until the cars become sentient and start having road-rage.

In ten years’ time, all cars will be fully self-driving, we’ll just get in and be whisked off to wherever we want to go and the whole experience will be a whole less stressful.

Self-driving cars have been “10 years off” for the past 50 years.
They’ll still be “10 years off” in another 20 years.

Yes, there’ll be a few outliers – little “transport buggy” type things in conference halls and maybe a few big public transport hubs, things like food delivery drones and (possibly) a few “autonomous car” lanes on motorways and maybe things like guided busways as well but otherwise, no chance.

They’ll still be “10 years off” in another 20 years.

They won’t based on my Toyota rental experience. The regulation might be, but not the cars.

The ‘ten years’ time’ prediction was a bit flippant, but in all seriousness, looking at the difference between my 12-year-old car and a new car, I don’t think we’ll be that far off – the acceleration of technology advances is staggering. My 12-year-old Quashqui was top of the range when new and the limit of its tech was Bluetooth, a decent sound system and 360 reversing cameras (but the definition is appalling and I daren’t rely on it). My in-laws’ brand-new Sportage (which is a very comparable car being a similar level and is top spec again) has Lane Keep Assistance, Lane Following Assistance (this is slightly different to Lane Keep – it guides the car in the right direction when using the sat-nav), Intelligent Speed Limit Assistance, Blind Spot Collision Avoidance, Parking Collision Avoidance, Remote Parking Assistance – it can’t be long before all that is coupled together into a proper self-driving experience.

My newer car has about four ways of doing the same bloody thing either by using the touch screen, the physical buttons, the steering wheel controls or the touchpad in the centre console. And I still can’t find a way to intuitively skip songs,

Voice control?

looking at the difference between my 12-year-old car and a new car, I don’t think we’ll be that far off

Technology moves apace, but we’re a long way off true automation yet. I can’t offhand think of a modern car UI that hasn’t been fucky in some form of ephemerally annoying way. My previous Civic’s adaptive cruise control would shit itself and slam the brakes on if I dared to “undertake” a car ahead which was waiting to turn right.

On the current Seat there’s a whole host of issues some of which are actual faults but one of the clearly irritating-by-design is the rear view camera which pops up a sort of radar overlay of the car on the left of the screen; clearly intended for a left-hand drive car, in a RHD car it covers up where the kerb is rendering the entire thing near useless. There’s a touchscreen handle the size of a midge’s cock that you can use to minimise it out of the way but if you take it out of reverse and re-engage because you’re doing something wacky like “parking” then it pops straight back out again.

Voice control?

I haven’t actually tried that, but yes the vehicle has it.

And I agree regarding some of the foibles these new systems have (such as my newer car having speed limit assistance that I daren’t use as it regularly gets the speed limit wrong, including one instance near where I live where it thinks the speed limit on the main road is 5mph because it thinks the car is in the nearby school car park), but much of the technology is now there and there will be a point when it becomes reliable enough to deploy.

Of course, when you turn it off and get distracted you end up doing this…

My 12-year-old Quashqui was top of the range when new and the limit of its tech was Bluetooth, a decent sound system and 360 reversing cameras (but the definition is appalling and I daren’t rely on it). My in-laws’ brand-new Sportage (which is a very comparable car being a similar level and is top spec again) has Lane Keep Assistance, Lane Following Assistance (this is slightly different to Lane Keep – it guides the car in the right direction when using the sat-nav), Intelligent Speed Limit Assistance, Blind Spot Collision Avoidance, Parking Collision Avoidance, Remote Parking Assistance – it can’t be long before all that is coupled together into a proper self-driving experience.

I don’t know how much of this is about ‘new’ and how much is about ‘affordable’ though. My friend has a 2007 car with lane-assist, and this Wiki page suggests it was first introduced to cars in the mid-00’s. Albeit only to the most very expensive cars. I’m sure it’s improved in that time. But it did exist!

Buy a van. When I bought mine new in 2018 you got the basic safety systems, ABS, ESP, etc, but had to choose a model with passenger airbag, A/C, etc.
The only “bing” is that you’ve left the lights on and no “bongs”

I picked up a VW Golf yesterday for driving at the National RR Champs and was trialling some of the safety tech during the drive to the venue.

The adaptive cruise control is good, the Lane Assist stuff is really annoying. It’s like it’s constantly scoring you on your driving and occasionally it’ll flash up a stern warning to stay in the middle of the lane. It’s got quite a noticeable tug on the wheel to keep you straight, it’s disconcerting the first time you feel it.

Every time you start the thing – into the menu, disable it all. 🙄

MG4 here. Biggest issue on all reviews. As above – rural roads with often no white line on the left and a ropey one in the middle. Also it always turns on in the highest setting. I’ve seen some owners set their starting ‘noise’ to be ‘turn the lane assist off’!

That’s what I do, get in the car, one physical button to get to settings, toggle lane assist off completely, confirm and go. We’ve not tried it on the motorway yet. It’s a shame as the ACC looks great, but LA is way too intrusive. Hopefully a software upgrade might improve it.

It’s like it’s constantly scoring you on your driving and occasionally it’ll flash up a stern warning to stay in the middle of the lane.

If it’s constant, maybe the problem isn’t with the car, maybe it’s actually your lane discipline 🙂

“I demand the right to weave about and not watch where I am going without being corrected!”

😉

If it’s constant, maybe the problem isn’t with the car, maybe it’s actually your lane discipline 🙂

You know how you move slightly right within the lane to overtake a wide lorry or move slightly left to let a motorbike filter through in slow moving traffic?

Yeah, it was all that and it complained bitterly after a while.

Once traffic was free flowing, it did mostly shut up.

Got a modernish Skoda sitting outside (see the ‘signs of getting older’ thread). Has a feature which tries to stop you using the steering wheel when you cross the centre line of the road.

Unless you have the indicators on. I’m guessing you owned an Audi or BMW before?

It does rather sound as if VW’s implementation is poor.

I hired a T-Cross recently and on a motorway, it’s not horrible, annoying if you don’t signal, but at higher speeds it’s just a resistance on the steering wheel. At low speeds it interferes enough to be distracting. Badly painted, or narrow roads where you almost invariably/accidently cross either the central line or a side line really pulls at the steering.

MG4 here.

I was offered an MG before I took the T-Cross above and honestly I don’t understand how a car with that any features all competing for your attention alongside multiple graphic displays makes it into a hire fleet. I needed to drive out of Barcelona, and I rejected the car for the first time ever thinking that I just wouldn’t have been able to to drive it safely without spending hours just learning the controls first. Combine that with left hand drive, hybrid, and bing-bonging…Nope.

@nickc – mmm the salesfella wanted to spend a hour with Carol explaining how it all worked. Once you get used to it, it’s okay – main display tells you everything you need to know, big one on the left mostly fluff except the blooming air con etc which is a prod, poke and hope (no physical controls).

Volume and a few other things on the wheel as well. It’s a bit of reclalibration tho every time I drive it coming from my Koraq. But the two things that get me every time are a) not start button, just stick selector to drive and go and b) regenerative braking – it’s brilliant but then I get back in my own car and near t-bone the nearest wall 🙂

That lane assist tho can do one.