When I was younger and worked in a service station, we never worried about driving the vehicles that 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 could be dangerous to drive an unfamiliar new car.
Example of Three Centring Systems
This ran through my mind as I was reading a Guide to Lane Departure Warning & 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.
Different Capabilities
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) that it uses, you or other road users could be put at risk.
Unfamiliar Rental Vehicles
Rental cars could present a challenge as well. I contacted a rental agency and explained that 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.
Read the Manual First
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.
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