Yahoo Autos You Can Use a BMW With Driver Aids on Track
Earlier today, we received word that the Genesee Valley chapter of the BMW Car Club of America would be banning cars with lane keep assist and automatic braking from its trackday events. The reason being that the systems can be unpredictable and put drivers and others on track at risk.
However, this is not a national BMW CCA policy. In fact, the BMW CCA has been working with BMW North America to establish regulations for these cars on tracks to ensure they are safe. The Genesee Valley Chapter essentially "went rogue" and banned the cars without blessing from the national CCA. That's according to a statement BMW NA provided Road & Track:
The Genesee Valley BMW CCA Chapter created and published an unauthorized policy banning BMW's with Driver Aids from participating in HPDEs. The national BMW CCA office does not share their opinion and is discussing the issue with the chapter.
BMW NA is working closely with the national BMW CCA office to educate and develop a nationwide procedure for including BMWs with Driver Aids in HPDEs. Most advanced driver aids like lane departure warning and blind spot detection do not affect the ability of the driver to control the car on-track at high speed. In addition the systems can be shut off so that they are also not a distraction to a student.
Systems like Emergency Braking Assist may be intrusive on-track but can be completely shut off by pressing and holding the Driver's Aids button on the dash until the green light goes out. The system defaults to On upon a re-start so this switch should be pressed at the beginning of each on-track run. The Driver Aids Button also shuts down all the other driver aids that the car may be equipped with.
If the systems are shut down properly, BMW says there should be no concerns on them being reactivated while driving. BMW told us that they expect that this rule from Genesee should be clarified and changed in short order.
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