Titi Aur rejects the hypothesis put forward by a survivor of the accident with seven deaths: “I don't think it's possible”
There are minimal chances that the lane keeping assistance system was to blame for the accident in which seven people died on Tuesday in Timiș county, pilot Titi Aur told HotNews. This scenario had even been forwarded by a survivor of the accident, who told the Greek press that this system had locked the steering wheel.
The minibus in which the Greeks were and which collided head-on with the TIR is the Peugeot Expert Travel model, produced in 2017. Representatives of the Timiș Police told HotNews that, following the impact, the minibus was destroyed in proportion to 90%, so an expert examination of the car cannot be done.
One of the three survivors of the crash said, however, that the vehicle's assistance system, also called “lane assist,” which helps a vehicle keep its lane, locked the steering wheel and caused the minibus to lose control.
How does the system work?
“I don't think it's possible. 99.9% no, I leave a small reservation, but very small,” said pilot Titi Aur, when asked by HotNews if this scenario is plausible.
“This system is designed in the following way: to keep you in the lane, not to take you out of your lane, and it is designed in the first phase to notify you that you are approaching the left lane or the right lane. It notifies you first acoustically and with vibrations in the steering wheel, and in the harder version, from newer cars, the system pulls the steering wheel, possibly also brakes if necessary, but it does this with a relatively small force, not with a force greater than the driver”, he explained Titi Aur, for HotNews.
Can pull the steering wheel, but “with little force”
The pilot said that the system, when it intervenes, does not pull hard on the steering wheel, does not pull with force, but “pulls a little to correct you, but provided that you have your hand on the wheel, and does not pull with a greater force than the driver. If you are careless, it adjusts you a little, but that's it.”
He added that this assistance system automatically deactivates when the signal is activated – either left or right.
“Understand that you want to cross a solid or broken line, overtake or turn left or right,” continued Titi Aur.
He also said that the possibility of this system giving errors like those suggested by the crash survivor is very, very small, “because the system is technology and that system works according to the information it receives and is designed to stop after the driver signals.”
Titi Aur also said that the system is super-verified and has appeared on cars for a long time now.
The defensive driving expert says another scenario may be related to the driver's aggressive driving style. “He was going from overtaking to overtaking and he signaled right because he was coming back and immediately signaled left, thinking he would also overtake those in front, not because he wanted to make a left turn under the truck.”
