Lane hogging is one of the most frustrating driving habits, with Australians seemingly one of the most annoyed nations when it comes to other motorists not keeping left unless overtaking.
That could be a thing of the past though, at least if new driver assistance technology being rolled out overseas by Nissan ends up coming here.
In the US, Nissan has launched its ‘ProPilot 2.1’ semi-autonomous driving system, which includes hands-free highway driving, adaptive cruise control and lane change assist tech.
It’s the latter of those three features which has now been enhanced to include an alert which suggests drivers move back to the right lane (the equivalent of the left lane in Australia) after completing an overtake.
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US-market Rogue (X-Trail)
However, the onus is solely on the driver to follow the command, which isn’t prompted when the system is off.
At first, it’ll be available in the US-market Nissan Rogue (X-Trail in Australia) and Infiniti QX80, before being fitted to the new Armada (North American Patrol) when it launches.
Unfortunately, Nissan hasn’t yet provided timings for when we can expect the updated X-Trail in Australian showrooms, and the recently revealed Y63 Patrol isn’t due here until 2026.
As well as being annoying to other motorists, hogging the right-hand lane is illegal on certain roads in Australia, though laws vary between jurisdictions about when the famed “keep left unless overtaking” rules are enforced.
US-market Armada (Patrol)
Last month, Liverpool Highway Patrol officers fined a P-plater $410 and hit them with two demerit points for driving in the right-hand lane for 3km without overtaking another vehicle.
While no vehicle currently on sale in Australia currently provides an alert for drivers to stop lane hogging, certain Volkswagen Group cars prevent drivers from ‘undertaking’ on the left if adaptive cruise control is engaged.
In the UK, undertaking is illegal and lane hogging is better policed, leading to better lane discipline from motorists.
MORE: Yes, someone was actually fined for hogging the overtaking lane
MORE: Is it legal to always drive in the right-hand lane?
