Lane-keeping has come a long way since the early days when the tech first debuted. I still remember testing a Chrysler 200 (which no longer exists) and realizing how the automated system for keeping you centered in a lane was way too aggressive, like someone leaning over from the passenger seat and grabbing the wheel to put you back in the lane.
The problem is that automakers sometimes don’t test their own tech long enough to make sure it works reliably — say, on a lonely country road in the middle of Wisconsin without good lane markings or when there is a pile of snow on the shoulder.
Since that test several years ago, there’s just been more time to refine lane keeping and to make sure it works in a variety of conditions. Case in point: The 2025 Toyota Land Cruiser, which is one of my all-time favorite vehicles and now looks more like an off-road machine than ever before. (In my previous test of this vehicle, it looked and drove more like a luxury SUV.)
During my test period, I noticed how the lane-keeping would do a subtle nudge to keep me in the lane, but without being so obvious or aggressive that it was jarring to me or the passengers.
It’s a brilliant safety tech, because a lot of accidents occur when someone sideswipes another driver or has some other mishap because they have not stayed in the lane. And, it is easy to lose track of your exact position with a larger SUV like this.
In several instances, the Land Cruiser would drift a little and then move over either from the left or right back into the lane without an almost imperceptible nudge. I say “almost” because you do know it’s there. You likely won’t react suddenly to the movement and maybe overcorrect or panic a little, even if you have not experienced active lane-keeping before.
Toyota explains it this way:
“The 2025 Toyota Land Cruiser comes standard with a lane-keeping assist feature as part of the Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 suite, which includes Lane Departure Alert with Steering Assist, allowing the vehicle to gently steer itself back into its lane if it starts to drift, alongside other driver-assistance technologies like adaptive cruise control and forward collision mitigation.”
Note the word gentle in that description. I can tell you it is a slight nudge, compared to what I’ve experienced in many other vehicles. And yet, the nudge works because it makes sure you are guided right back to where you are supposed to be.
Why is lane movement a big issue? For most of us, our brains just can’t keep the steering perfectly centered at all times like we are a robot. People start talking, the kids goof around — we need safety aids like this to help us but not cause distraction of their own.
I ended up thinking the nudge was about the best I’ve experienced in recent tests. It’s a perfect match for my own distracted driving issues.