Forward Driving Aids Temporarily Disabled: A Troubleshooting Guide

Many of the modern vehicles now have advanced driver assistance tech and safety systems that rely on cameras and sensors to operate. 

However, owners may occasionally receive an alert that these forward driving aids have been temporarily disabled.

Causes of Forward Driving Aids Disabling

There are a few common triggers that can cause forward collision, lane departure, adaptive cruise and other driving aids to turn off or become unavailable:

Bad Weather Conditions

• Poor visibility from variouse kinds of natural weather conditions such as dense fog, snow, rain, spray or other weather can obscure the cameras and sensors that are used by driving aids. 

• When this happens, systems usually disable the operation to avoid malfunction.

Obstructed Sensors or Cameras

• Mud, snow, ice, debris, vehicle damage or other obstructions that block a clear view of the road can interfere with proper system functionality by triggering a disable system failure.

Windshield Replacements

• Sensors often calibrate to correctly read through the original glass. 

• New or improperly installed windshields can disrupt the sensor operation by deactivating the driving aids.

Low Light Conditions

• Driving at night with few light sources for cameras can deactivate the aids. 

• Sudden transitions from light to dark, like entering tunnels, also prompt to disabling options.

Impacts of Driving Aids Disabling

Loss of Alerts and Warning Messages

• Disabled aids can no longer monitor conditions or alert drivers about dangerous scenarios like potential collisions, run-off-road risks, tailgating concerns, and more.

Reduction of Vehicle Control Support

• Vehicle aids also helps you to maintain and avoid issues by automatically braking, adjusting the steering, and controlling the throttling speed. 

• Loss of these supports transfers all driving responsibility back to the person behind the wheel.

Returning to Driving Support Functions

In most cases, forward driving aids that become temporarily disabled will resume the normal operation on their own shortly after conditions return to normal.

Such as:

Clear Alert Codes

• Clearing diagnostic trouble codes through a dealer scan tool after the triggering conditions are resolved will also allow most systems to restore themselves.

Sensor and Camera Cleaning

• Carefully cleaning the mud and snow that are obstructing the sensors and cameras, should have a clean  with water, towels and a glass cleaner in order to remove the debris that interferences. 

Coping With Unexpectedly Disabled Driving Aids

If forward collision alerts, lane-keeping assists or other aids unexpectedly become unavailable while driving, try these troubleshooting steps:

Pull Over If Safe

• As soon as reasonably possible, get the vehicle stopped and investigate what triggered the system to shut down. 

• Address any simple issues like cleaning the sensors.

Improve on Added Caution

• Drive more conservatively until the aids comes back on track. 

• Increase the following distance between vehicles, reduce the speed, and keep your eyes more focused since you lack supplemental warnings of impending hazards.

Have the Systems Inspected

• If persistent issues prevent driving systems from reactivating over several key cycles, have your dealer to diagnose the computer logs. 

• Address underlying electrical or mechanical problems as well.

Frequently Asked Questions About Forward Driving Aids Temporarily Disabled

Q: Is it safe to keep driving with my aids disabled?

A: Yes, but you lose supplemental alerts, assistance and corrections from these systems. So you must increase your focus, allow longer stopping distances, reduce the speed, etc. 

Q: Is it safe for me to modify or disable the driving aids by myself?

A: No. Never manually tamper with or disable the safety systems – this may void warranties and risks of legal complications that follow any accidents. While inconvenient, let professional service technicians appropriately address the issues with driving aids.