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Behind-the-Wheel

Knowing a vehicle's automated driver assistance systems is important

Drive assistance systems

When I was younger and worked in a service station, we never worried about driving the vehicles we were repairing.

Out on a road test, they all behaved the same. Press on the accelerator or brakes, steer and shift as required. That's not the case today as it can be dangerous to drive an unfamiliar new car.

That ran through my mind as I was reading a “Guide to Lane Departure Warning and Lane Keeping Assist” by Consumer Reports. The guide explained about three systems: lane centring assist, lane departure warning and lane keeping assistance.

Lane departure warning will provide visual, audible, and/or tactile warnings—such as through steering wheel or seat vibrations—to alert the driver when the car approaches or crosses lane markings. These systems do not intervene when the turn signal is active.

Lane keeping assistance gives steering support to assist the driver in preventing the vehicle from departing the lane.

Lane centring assist provides automatic steering to continually centre the vehicle in its lane.

The three systems interpret centring very differently and may be called by different names depending on the manufacturer. If you are unfamiliar with the vehicle and the automated driver assistance systems (ADAS) it uses, you or other road users could be put at risk.

Rental cars could present a challenge as well. I contacted a rental agency and explained I have not driven a car with ADAS before and was unfamiliar with them. Would they be able to show me how the systems work on the car I chose to rent before I used it?

The immediate answer of yes was tempered as I asked a few more questions. What I finally understood was that not all employees were fully familiar and I would be best to make sure that a senior employee was present when I picked up the vehicle.

I always urge people to read their owner's manual about vehicle safety systems when they are unfamiliar with them. In the case of a rental, if you know the make and model, you may be able to read that vehicle's manual on manufacturer's website.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.



More Behind the Wheel articles

About the Author

Tim Schewe is a retired constable with many years of traffic law enforcement experience. He has been writing his column for most of the 20 years of his service in the RCMP.

The column was 'The Beat Goes On' in Fort St. John, 'Traffic Tips' in the South Okanagan and now 'Behind the Wheel' on Vancouver Island and here on Castanet.net.

Schewe retired from the force in January of 2006, but the column has become a habit, and continues.

To comment, please email

To learn more, visit DriveSmartBC



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The views expressed are strictly those of the author and not necessarily those of Castanet. Castanet does not warrant the contents.

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