I wasn't really asking if you can turn them off, i think you can in all, but on new cars they turn on after ever restart
I was more curious if anyone liked the lane assist, we have it on the car and the van and its just horrible, feels like a loss of control
can turn the crap off in my van via three buttons on the screen, but the option takes about a minute to appear which is quite a wait - i wonder how many people turn these things off whilst driving, and will this distraction cause even more danger ?
No, I don't like it. There seems to be a lot of confusion between the various systems:
Lane Departure Warning - doesn't steer the car, it just beeps and / or vibrates the wheel or seat if you drift out of your lane.
Lane Keep Assist - steers you back into your lane if you drift out. NOT the same as self-steering. It'll do it two or 3 times, maybe, before giving up, if you don't take the wheel back.
Emergency Lane Keep Assist - works in conjunction with other sensors on the car (like blind spot detectors) and will actively (and quite aggressively!) try to stop you from changing lanes when there's something that you would hit in the lane you're moving to.
Those are the type approval terms used in the regulations - manufacturers might have their own "marketingspeak" terms for the same things.
I'm not that bothered about the warning system, but it's a mild irritant. I bloody HATE the second one. As mentioned, it's a legal requirement, and after a certain date (that I can't remember) so many people were turning it off that it became a requirement that it had to re-enable itself at every key-on. Having got my first rear wheel drive company car for over 30 years, I was looking forward to some decent steering feel, and this just bloody spoils it! However, (on my car at least, and for reasons I don't fully understand), it doesn't always spoil it. Sometimes (most of the time, in fact), I can straighten twisty bends by using both sides of the road. I live in a rural area so most of the roads round here are twisty). It can be absolutely fine and doesn't attempt to keep me on my side of the road! I think there's an angle of approach, above which, it assumes the driver is doing it intentionally. It seems to need to see a very oblique angle of approach (and no indicator) to intervene. For the most part, I can live with it on its lowest setting. (It has three levels of aggressivity that it tries to put you back in your lane with). This is just as well, because it has to be disabled via touchscreen menus!
I haven't tried the 3rd one yet - and hope never to have to!
