What to do if a system is accidentally activated

Accidentally activated

I accidentally activated Lane Keeping Assist in the Kia Niro a few days ago, inadvertently hitting the button on the steering wheel shown to the right. I soon began to feel the steering wheel resist my attempted movements.

Again, I had hit the button inadvertently and had no idea what was going on and wondered if there was a steering malfunction.

I turned it on deliberately to record the road and instrument panel to show what goes on and posted it to our YouTube channel. You can see it below or click here.

An indicator was in fact on but was green. When I got close to a lane line it would turn white. The camera swaps focus from the road to the instrument panel but it is possible to see this.

The important part here, was the realization that the steering wheel indicator was not a warning light. The indicator was either green, flashing green or white. This was the clue that a system had been activated. Further, there is nothing red or yellow/amber/orange.

The thing to remember is that in today’s cars it is far too easy to accidentally activate a system and for your car to begin behaving oddly.

In my case, experience told me what had happened, so I shut down the lane keeping. Since it’s an electronic system, a restart of the car would have resolved the issue, and it may for you in a similar circumstance.

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