It isn't something that you 'use', it as an active assistance that happens to you. But it only happens over (I think) 50mph. I assume you were travelling over that speed?


I have no intention of using mine unless I'm making a long journey at night. Although you can deactivate it, it reactivates by default so you have to disable it each time you start the car, which is annoying.


If it isn't working once you reach operating speed, I would notify your dealer.

 

Yes, I was travelling at 70mph.
So could you please clarify is your has ever functioned, and if so, what it actually does. Once you clarify, I will re-test and notify dealer if need be.
Thanks

 

There are two things that are quite similar but have a different effect.

The standard active lane keeping assist reacts with vibrations when you cross lanes with interrupted lines (when you don't use turning signals) and will actively brake at the crossing side when there is a solid line. If you release your hands from the steering wheel, the car will not actively steer but go straightforward (well, normally the lane assist will start the braking algorithm as it's going to cross lines). You will indeed see that green car between two solid lines.

The driving assistance package (steering assist) will keep you in the assigned lane following all bends and the steer will turn itself. This is indicated by a green steering wheel in the center. There seem to be cars out there that have it, but in the pricelist they mention it's the 4th quarter of 2018 for availability.

I myself don't notice that much from the active lane keeping assist, but I tend to stay in the center of a lane and use turning signals quite often even when there is noone to see it, every driver is different though.

 

I was t avelling at 70 and moved from the outside lane into the centre one after overtaking a lorry. The wheel vibrated and there was some resistance, as if the steering became stiffer. I don’t usually indicate to return from the outside lane unless there is someone behind me waiting to overtake. But the next time I overtook I did indicate to return to the inside lane and there was no resistance.

 

That's interesting. What is supposed to happen if you change lane without indicating is that you get the warning vibration, then if you don't return to lane it dabs the brake on the opposite side of the car, which has the effect of jerking you back into lane. The effect has been described as feeling like a tyre blowout.



The thing that bothers me about the facility is that if you take emergency evasive action, will it do the same thing, possibly causing an accident? I know there is active brake assist, but it won't prevent an accident if you're too close when you're pulled back into lane. Without knowing the logic built into the system, I don't feel I want to trust it.

 

i wondered the same thing (no vibration ) when crossing broken lines but i accidentally crossed over a solid white line and the car did brake and pull me back in.
I also wonder if the car would brake automatically if some body brake suddenly or a person stepped out in front of me (don't think i'll try that one )

 

I thought the same problem was on my car, then I looked into it. There are certain things that have to be in place for it to work, speed is one, how the lines are painted is another, the weather can affect it, it also needs to think that you are actually drifting across lanes and not making active steering inputs.

When the vibration comes it is very subtle, do not expect the steering wheel to vibrate your hands off, it is just a simple warning. When you pass over a solid like it will jolt you back into the lane using the brakes but will then let the car go where you are steering.

 

I tried deliberately on the motorway yesterday to try this out. All I got was a gentle vibration on the steering wheel. Perhaps it would have produced something spectacular if I’d swerved about but a gentle drift between lanes just brought about something akin to an iPhone on silent.

 

In my view, Mercedes should re-name this to Lane keeping warning, Active lane keeping assist is a bit of a stretch.

 

I agree, but lane keeping assists basically does that, it assists you to stay in lane by warning you, such as speed limit assist will assist you to stay in the speed limit by flashing and beeping, it does not stop the car going over the speed limit, you have to set that yourself.

 

Hi all
Read and reread manual thought i had the gist of it, day after i got the car it kicked in and was a bit disconcerting to be honest if you were not expecting it , anyway like some of you (all of you?) i obviously tried to initiate it and couldn't ,this was after quite rightly it kicked in when i just nudged the ribbed white line nearside i think i am meeting all the operational criteria ,over fifty.no steering input etc etc but as yet have been unable to duplicate it working, bit odd or am probably missing something, also today without to my knowledge touching anything all windows went down couple of inches for no reason (parked)lain:, not so sure i am a big fan of intelligent cars.

 

Think mines ok, it’s set to medium and get a very slight rumble through the wheel but not sure it’s not from the lines anyway. Is the lane assist icon green when you try it?

 

Yeah its green and definitely works sometimes just not able to replicate when i try

 

Me too. On an A road last Monday it decided that I was too near the side of the road and applied the brakes to the two outside wheels. As it was in the middle of an s bend I was driving appropriately to the conditions but the car decided otherwise. Like you I tried to replicate the effect but failed.

Along with the parking assist, there are some things about the car that I have to be convinced as to their usefulness.

But other new features are just knockout.

 

What's up with parking assist?

 

Yes Musician my exact thoughts would have cheerfully forgone some/all driver aids to have both big screens, as have been driving fifty years without them, oh well once again progress rears its pernicious head with driverless cars and electric on the horizon i will be packing it in as it is getting no longer enjoyable, no speed cameras when i started
oh the joy.

 

Mine gives a slight wobble through the steering wheel when I change lanes on the motorway without signaling, then when I come off the motorway with a solid line and don't signal it throws me back into the original lane. I don't know about being a safety thing, but after years of driving and getting lazy habits, it is now making me signal everytime I change lane.

 

When it activates i get quite a noticable vibration/noise and whichever side braking on, a display on instrument cluster not looked to see if i can adjust settings or not, when you are going along fat dumb and happy wakes you up somewhat may not be a bad thing.

 

I tried my paring assustvthe other day I had to slam my breaks on because it flew into the space and nearly hit the car behind me lol

 

The park assist is just that, it assist with the steering, it does not do the whole job. You have to control the throttle and accelerator, although the car will help with distance from obstacles and it steers for you.


I am guessing that this is the first car you have had with park assist. This video might help you, it is based on an older model but the basics are the same.

 

The a class has active park assist. YouTube videos show that you don't need to apply brake or acceleration during the procedure

 

A small remark: you don't need to do anything when you have the automatic transmission (probably most buyers have that), you still need to change gears, accelerate and brake when you have the manual transmission, than it's just the steering that's automatic.

 

Well as much as I thought I’d experienced the LKA I obviously hadn’t till today. Got the wheel pull and a screen display of the car in top down view with a red line down the side of the car where I’d drifted

 

I think the lane keeping assist is hard to “test” because it is design to help if you drift and I do not think it is easy to knowing “drift” over the line. Although, the harsh redirection people have spoken about occurs when it is a solid line. It does not seem to do it on a broken line. It is more subtle when you drift over the broken lines. This could be because it is a possibility that you could cross the broken line to overtake but the car would not be programmed to expect someone to cross the solid line.

The park assist is an interesting one and is probably a thread in itself because I am confused by what it does and the participation of the driver. The manual suggests that you pick the spot and let the car do its thing with the driver being there to check for obstacles (should a pedestrian or similar get in the way). The one time I have used it so far did not feel like that is how it was in reality. The car did move it self into the first part of the manoeuvre but seemed very jerky in applying the brakes and made really awful noise as it approached the car behind (it had not hit anything). It done the same when it moved forward to straighten itself up. It was almost like it had marked where it wanted me to brake but had to do it itself because I hadn’t.

 

I've only tried the park assist once and I confess: I bottled out halfway through and took over myself. I think this probably says more about me than about the car, but part of the problem lies with the ambiguity of the system manual. It warns you to be ready to brake, but you don't know whether this is telling you that you have to do this part yourself, or whether it is there as part of the "you are always responsible for everything that happens on the road, don't come crying to us if it all goes wrong" spiel that permeates every active assist system. I can't think of any reason why it would not brake, but who wants to take the chance?


It would be nice to find somewhere to practice for half an hour without the pressure of other drivers trying to park, but I suspect that isn't practical for many people.


What all this confirms in my mind is something I have suspected for a while: full autonomy in vehicles is a very long way off indeed. Leaving aside the fact that the technology is nowhere near being able to cope with the complex driving situations we find ourselves in every day, laws on negligence and liability will take a long time to develop and, most of all, most people who have been driving for any length of time will find it very difficult to adjust to giving control of driving to the vehicle. Personally, I don't even want to; I enjoy driving. If I want to be driven somewhere I'll take a cab, it's a lot more sensible than forking out £30,000+ for a car to do it for me on the odd occasion.

 

Mine happened coming off a slip road onto the A19

 

A balanced and very accurate appraisal Saunders and mirrors my own thoughts exactly on the parts of the car i could do without instead of getting the useful bits like bigger screens, all marketing i suppose and Mercedes has never been known for being generous, 4 wheels and a steering wheel by the way of 'extras'.

 

It begs the question with these new system, if there is an accident who is to blame.

I tried mine first and used the pedal myself, yesterday I tried again without the pedals (I've had the car a month and only tried twice), and noticed that it shows you on the screen where it is going to stop. I worked fine but it still worrying. What would have happened if it hit a car or a pedestrian.


Officer: Are you the driver of this car?
Me: No officer.
Officer: Who was driving then?
Me: Well the car was driving itself.
Officer: OK, Mercedes can have the fine and points.

 

It begs the question with these new system, if there is an accident who is to blame.

I tried mine first and used the pedal myself, yesterday I tried again without the pedals (I've had the car a month and only tried twice), and noticed that it shows you on the screen where it is going to stop. I worked fine but it still worrying. What would have happened if it hit a car or a pedestrian.


Officer: Are you the driver of this car?
Me: No officer.
Officer: Who was driving then?
Me: Well the car was driving itself.
Officer: OK, Mercedes can have the fine and points.

Well there's the rub: the driver is responsible, which is why the manufacturer goes out of it's way to spell it out.


There hasn't been a test case yet that I'm aware of where someone has attempted to sue a manufacturer for the failure of an autonomous feature that has led to an accident. Although many other types of vehicle failure - brakes, steering etc - have led to actionable cases, the law currently requires that the person in control of the car is responsible for everything, which is why even the most optimistic commentators on vehicle autonomy are not predicting when the level 5 complete autonomy, will be achievable.

 

I believe the lane keeping assist won't be around for long and will be replaced with the full driving assist. We're just a bit stuck in between. But at least the current generation is ready to take on the 11 required safety assist measures from the European Union (2021 will probably mean a facelift of the car though and perhaps driving assist as standard, so I think they're a bit ahead of the curve).

I can understand they have the two systems, the lane assist only requires a simple camera, the driving assist needs a front cam, stereoscopic sensors and LIDAR/RADAR. I wish the automatic braking would be flawless but you can still crash into someone at low speeds, that's a more severe letdown than haphazard lane assist. I read somewhere it had to do with a blind spot between long range RADAR and short range LIDAR where the middle range is missing. The car will slow down but NCAP videos show the car happily and slowly smashing into the car in front. So either go really fast and hope the car succesfully brakes or go as slow as turtle but then you can brake yourself. In the meantime, the red car icon is good enough for me to increase my distance manually. No need for it to start beeping and trying to brake as a "test".

 

I notice that MB have today released a new e brochure for A Class models from 1st December build include Full Driver Assist for £1695!

 

Does mercedes driver assist also work in traffic jams? Not familiar with it.

 

Found my first problem with the lane keep assist today and starting to think that this Safety Aid is more of a Danger Aid

I was driving down the Motorway and was in the outside lane ready to follow the road off at the next junction, along side me was a truck who was in the lane to stay on the Motorway. The truck then decided to sway into my lane, forcing me to take evasive action onto the hard shoulder. I was more interested in not being hit then indicating, so I steered over the white line, only for the lane assist to throw me back into the lane I was trying to get out of. Luckily at the same time the truck driver realised he was swaying and moved back into his lane, but it could have been different.

 

Hmm. This seems quite scary!!