The system designed to prevent lane departure has a particular issue with the dashed road markings that denote the entrance to tapered deceleration lanes or right-hand exit ramps on Oregon freeways. I have not noticed an issue when similar markings are on the driver's side.
In particular, the in section 360, figure 360-A of the ODOT Traffic Line Manual (https://www.oregon.gov/odot/Engineering/Documents_TrafficStandards/Traffic-Line-Manual.pdf) the line marked "WD" is consistently able to fool the lane departure system and allow the vehicle to drift or steer toward the "Physical Gore Point" as shown in the figure.
At one point I very briefly took my hands off the steering wheel (not recommended) to unscrew the cap on my water bottle while lane centering was activated on the lane departure avoidance system and the vehicle steered to the right without warning while passing an exit lane having the "WD" markings. This nearly resulted in my Highlander leaving the road at freeway speeds. Now I understand this is not responsible behavior on my part, but these things occur, and it may result in accident or death in the future if it hasn't already. The system is quite reliable except for this glaring exception. I can normally do this sort of thing on a straight section of road in a vehicle not equipped with such a system, and as long as the road surface is in good condition and my alignment is correct, the vehicle will not veer to the right suddenly as I pass an exit ramp.
The fact this isn't fixed yet suggests to me that it may be limited to certain road markings that are only used in a few states, or maybe only in Oregon? It's a pretty serious bug for a safety system in my opinion.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
The system designed to prevent lane departure has a particular issue with the dashed road markings that denote the entrance to tapered deceleration lanes or right-hand exit ramps on Oregon freeways. I have not noticed an issue when similar markings are on the driver's side.
In particular, the in section 360, figure 360-A of the ODOT Traffic Line Manual (https://www.oregon.gov/odot/Engineering/Documents_TrafficStandards/Traffic-Line-Manual.pdf) the line marked "WD" is consistently able to fool the lane departure system and allow the vehicle to drift or steer toward the "Physical Gore Point" as shown in the figure.
At one point I very briefly took my hands off the steering wheel (not recommended) to unscrew the cap on my water bottle while lane centering was activated on the lane departure avoidance system and the vehicle steered to the right without warning while passing an exit lane having the "WD" markings. This nearly resulted in my Highlander leaving the road at freeway speeds. Now I understand this is not responsible behavior on my part, but these things occur, and it may result in accident or death in the future if it hasn't already. The system is quite reliable except for this glaring exception. I can normally do this sort of thing on a straight section of road in a vehicle not equipped with such a system, and as long as the road surface is in good condition and my alignment is correct, the vehicle will not veer to the right suddenly as I pass an exit ramp.
The fact this isn't fixed yet suggests to me that it may be limited to certain road markings that are only used in a few states, or maybe only in Oregon? It's a pretty serious bug for a safety system in my opinion.
- Michael W., HILLSBORO, OR, US