Lane Assist goes by many names depending on the manufacturer. 'Lane departure warning', 'Lane keep assist' and more. Simply put, this is more of a newer safety system being popularised to address the issues of accidents caused by lane departure into oncoming lanes, going off the road or into a barrier.
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Lane assist is a feature that works as part of a vehicle's Advanced Driver Assistance Systems. You'll generally find this feature as part of some vehicle safety packages as standard and, at times, optionally. The system works independently from other features in a typical safety package but can also work with Adaptive Cruise Control systems.
What is lane assist?
Lane assist, to simplify, is a system that keeps your vehicle in its lane. By using camera systems to detect road markings and electronics in Active systems overriding the steering, this system keeps the vehicle in its lane and prevents departure. Lane departure can happen for many reasons, but the common reasons for the vehicle unintentionally leaving its lane would be the driver being distracted or fatigued.
Historically, the system was invented and fitted to a Rover SD1 in 1988. The system was then found available in commercial vehicles like trucks and then, in the early 2000s, started making its way to more passenger cars. Over time, the system became more commonplace in many vehicles, mostly in the luxury segment, but is filtering into more commuter cars.
Lane assist typically comes bundled in a vehicle safety pack and other driver assistance systems. However, you can retrofit it to some cars if necessary.
How does it all work?
Lane assist generally uses cameras (Sometimes infrared and lasers.) that can be mounted to the car's windscreen, side mirrors, or even front grille to accurately centre the vehicle in its lane. The system detects the road markings as markers to see how the lane is set out. When the vehicle begins to drift out of its lane, the system will alert you audibly, with the lane assist icon flashing in the instrument cluster and vibration in the steering wheel. In the case of Active Lane Assist, the system overrides the steering to steer the vehicle back into its lane. Active Lane Assist paired with Adaptive Cruise Control makes highway and open road driving effortless.
Things to note about Lane Assist
Active lane assist systems do require you to keep your hand on the steering wheel at all times. If you don't do that, then the system will deactivate to ensure that you don't get distracted while driving. You can turn off lane assist as some drivers can find it intrusive, and in some instances, perhaps due to faded road markings or road imperfections, the system may not be as effective. Bad weather can affect the effectiveness of the system, too. With some systems, you can temporarily deactivate the system with use of the indicators and some cars driven spritedly, can detect this so lane assistance isn't entirely necessary.
