Tobias Marzell doesn’t think he’ll ever use the lane-centering feature on his 2021 Subaru Crosstrek again, after he believes it caused an accident during his morning commute last month.
Marzell was driving on Highway 30 near Brossard, Que., when he noticed the steering wheel tugging him a bit to the left. As he headed into a curve, Marzell said he made his own adjustments to keep the car to the left of the centre line.
All of a sudden, the steering “decided to jerk to the right heavily and instantly I collided with the vehicle on my right side,” said Marzell, who was travelling at about 100 kilometres per hour.
Marzell spends about two hours a day driving back and forth to work. It can be exhausting, so he often switched the feature on.
“You don’t always have to be firmly gripping the steering wheel and having to correct all the time,” said Marzell, 23. “It lets drivers relax a bit.”
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“Some dealers are so aware of this (that customers may not be familiar with the new driving aids) that they actually have what they call a second delivery,” said George Iny, executive director of the Automobile Protection Association.
“At the end of the month, they’re actually inviting vehicle purchasers, recent ones, to come in in the evening as a group for a presentation on the features of the vehicle.”
There’s also a lot of information online and on the manufacturer’s site about how the features work.
The APA also does road testing and of the Subaru models it has tested, the feature has reacted predictably, said Iny.
While there is documented evidence across all makes and models that technology, such as automatic emergency braking has resulted in a reduction in hit from behind collisions, the evidence is less clear when it comes to the lane assist feature, said Iny.
“The jury is still out,” he said.
Iny said the standards haven’t fully kept up with the fast-changing technology in the industry. Transport Canada is in the process of creating regulations.
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“When there’s an electronic component, it’s often difficult to duplicate and if it’s not recorded, you have to wait for other people to report similar problems,” said Iny.
He encourages drivers to contact Transport Canada if they have a serious complaint.