Tata Harrier and Safari to Receive Lane Keep Assist Feature

The pre-facelift Harrier and Safari were equipped with ADAS technologies earlier this year by Tata Motors and these features included blind spot recognition, automated emergency braking, forward collision warning, and lane departure warning. But lane-keep assist, which recognizes when a car is straying from its lane and actively corrects the steering even in the absence of driver input, was not included in the suite.

According to Tata Motors, because the SUVs had hydraulic power steering installed at the time, steering intervention was not feasible. However, according to the manufacturer, lane-keep assistance is now achievable because the redesigned SUVs now have an electronic power steering system.

Strangely enough, though, Tata Motors did not include the function in the facelifts of the Safari and Harrier that were just released. Although the automaker admits it's still fine-tuning its calibration, early adopters of the new SUVs may rest easy knowing that a software update will eventually add it to the first batch of vehicles.

The addition of lane-keep assist will raise the safety factor of the Safari and Harrier combination which was recently awarded a 5-star Global NCAP rating for adult and occupant protection. It also achieved the highest marks of any vehicle tested as part of the Safer Cars for India program.

In addition to the steering system software upgrade, Tata Motors has stated that it will occasionally roll out OTA (over the air) updates for the new advanced infotainment system that it has installed on the facelifted Harrier, Safari, and Nexon line-up.