Modern safety features such as lane-keep assist are now taken for granted because they appear on most cars. However, they come in very handy, especially when you drive a heavy SUV.
Lane-assist uses sensors to keep the vehicle from swaying into a different lane on the road. This helps weary drivers maintain their position on the road and drastically decreases the chances of a collision.
In this article, we’re looking at some compact SUVs that feature lane assist.
Let’s get started.
Table of Contents
1. Toyota Corolla Cross
The Toyota Corolla Cross has modern safety features that include lane assist.
This rugged compact SUV is family-friendly, fun to drive, and boasts great performance without breaking the bank. The advanced technology of the car features a myriad of functions to assist the driver.
Toyota calls all the driver safety features driver-assist technology and all of them work together to deliver a safer driving experience. These range from pedestrian detection all the way to road sign assistance.
Features like the lane departure alert with steering and lane tracing assist give the driver more confidence that they will stick to their lane and not sway into oncoming traffic.
As soon as you sway into a different lane without signaling, the sensors will kick in and direct the car. There will usually be a beep or alert to let you know that the car is correcting itself.
This comes in really handy for drivers who are tired and have been driving for long periods. Sometimes, the car will also help you if the lanes on the road are not visibly marked.
The Toyota Corolla Cross also comes with lane tracing assist, which will make automatic adjustments. This will direct the car and make sure it is in the correct lane.
Both the lane departure alert and lane tracing assist can be turned off by the driver. Some owners like having complete control of the car and the alerts can be annoying after a long time of driving.
We’ve also written about compact SUVs with the highest height.
2. Hyundai Venue
Hyundai is also one company that has carved its mark in the compact SUV segment throughout the past few years. The Hyundai Venue is an excellent SUV with modern safety features such as lane assist.
Owners of the Venue praise its fuel efficiency and high maneuverability, even with the base models. It gets pretty good safety scores when put up against competitors such as the Mazda CX-30 and Kia Soul.
For J.D. Power scores, the Venue gets a decent score of 78 out of 100 for reliability. This is a relatively good score for a compact SUV.
This compact SUV also gets a myriad of driver-assist features to go along with its stylish design. You get lane keep assist, driver attention alert, and pedestrian detection to name a few.
The Venue also got great scores for all six crash tests with a rating of good from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. This means that it can also be used as a family SUV or for long-distance trips.
Another benefit of the Venue for potential owners is its compact size, which is not as overbearing as full-size SUVs. It can zip around traffic and parking will not be an issue overall.
The lane assist also comes in handy with long-distance drives when drivers are bound to become lethargic. It will gently alert and direct you onto your designated lane keeping straight.
Ensure you check out some compact SUVs with park assist features.
3. Ford EcoSport
Among the features that people love about the Ford EcoSport are the large cargo hold area and its maneuverability. As you’d expect from Ford, the Ecosport also features modern safety and driver assist technologies such as lane assist.
Ford calls this feature the lane-keeping aid, and the technology uses sensors to gently steer you into the middle of the lane. Lane-keeping aid will also alert the driver when after multiple lane drifts and this will be sent out as messages.
If a driver repeatedly makes unintended drifts into the opposite lane, the car will warn the driver. In most cases, this happens when the driver is tired and the car will warn you to take a break.
To turn on the Lane-keeping assist system on Ford EcoSport you have to turn the button at the end of the left-hand turn signal stalk. Note that the on and off settings for lane keeping will be stored until manually changed.
The alert for lane keeping will be in the form of a vibration on the steering wheel to warn the driver. This setting can be turned on or off according to the driver’s preferences.
Alert and aid will both warn the driver and gently steer the car back into the center of the lane. You can choose to have both options or only one of the two within the options.
To delve deeper into the lane-keeping system, you can play around with the intensity of the alert vibration. Higher intensity will result in a more rigorous vibration and less intensity will be a gentle nudge of vibration.
The EcoSport can also let you choose how the car sees lane markings on the road. When the lane-keeping system is on, the colors on the screen will change according to the road markings.
These colors are gray, white, yellow, and red to indicate if the system is working. The red color will flash if the system has just given a warning and the gray means the system is unable to read the road markings or is offline.
To deactivate the lane-keeping assist temporarily, the driver will have to do some quick braking or quick acceleration. The system only works at speeds above 40 mph and it will also detect if your hands are not on the steering wheel.
You can also read our article about compact SUVs with extra comfortable seats.
4. Mazda CX-30
Mazda has made significant progress in the SUV sector and this is evident in the CX-30 compact SUV. This is an affordable family compact SUV with lots of safety and tech features.
It has been praised for its well-mannered handling and excellent interior design. But perhaps the most exceptional features are the driver-assist features that make it a safe and fun car to drive.
The 2022 Mazda CX-30 is ranked among the top 5 compact SUVs in this competitive category. This is truly an upscale compact SUV from Mazda and is great for zipping around the city and long-distance drives.
Mazda has been improving the CX-30 all the way from 2020 and this latest model shows the rewards. The company also listens to feedback from drivers of older models in order to improve newer models.
The interior features excellent finishes and tech to boot with an 8.8-inch display and infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility.
There are five main trim levels for the Mazda CX-30 and they all come with Mazda’s i-Activsense suite of safety features. Lane-keep assist, lane departure warning, and driver attention monitoring are all included.
The i-Activsense suite safety features use the car’s sensors and cameras to keep the car in the center of the lane. The car will also sense when the driver does not have their hands on the steering wheel.
Lane-keep assist system for the Mazda CX-30 will automatically steer the car into the center of the lane whenever the driver drifts off.
The Premium version of the CX-30 has more advanced safety and driver assist tech than the base trims. These include traffic sign recognition, reverse automatic emergency braking, blind spot monitoring, and rear cross-traffic alert.
These extras will cost more than the base trim, but some owners of the standard trim say that the upgrade is not worth it. The premium plus version retails for $34,400 and you can get a better alternative with that amount.
Premium versions of the CX-30 are quite expensive for those added extras. There are rivals of the CX-30 that are much cheaper and include all those features in their base trims.
The CX-30 is also one of the compact SUVs with the most horsepower, if you’re looking for a model with performance vibes.