"Hold steering wheel"??

Were you holding your wheel firmly? Were you awake?

 

Reading this thread, reminded me of growing up in the UK in the 1960s, and this being on the radio:

Now how about that for an ear-worm!

 

I agree with alanclarkeau. Sounds like an automated driving safety warning to me. Everything Toyota sells in model year 2017 or after has a lot of automation features standard.

 

Thinking about it - I think you get this alert:

if you've dozed off.

Whatever, it's probably part of the Lane Departure Alert system.

 

I get that also, usually for a split second, till the system noticed I moved the wheel ever so slightly again (it thinks you aren't holding on to the steering wheel and I think thats because you're not moving it), it will beep if you don't do anything as well after a bit.

 

It happened to me on my ga trip. With no cars around me on the highway I allowed the vechile to travel without my hands on the steering wheel, With my hands not touching but ready to take control.

As the car begin to sway right into next lane (interstate highway) the LDA system displayed I was moving into a wrong lane then began to move car back into my lane. In just a bit the car moved to the left and did the same correction back to my lane though believe it then displayed the message to put hands on the wheel.
At least that was my experience.

Thus automated driving though I would offer much more a safety thing then the Prius being able to drive itself like a Tesla.

That is way you feel the steering wheel pull against you a drop also, if you change lanes but fail to use a turn single.

 

It's to deter people from relying on the LDA as a pseudo "auto pilot" device and try to drive hands-free. The LDA does provide small steering corrections to nudge the vehicle back into line if you deviate over the lane markings, but not enough to actively steer the car, like other manufacturers' systems (e.g., Tesla, Mercedes-Benz).

 

LDA puts little pulls to the left and right on the steering wheel. If there is no resistance, the wheel moves with the pulls, it declares "hands off".
You might have been holding it, but went with the little pulls that LDA does, and tricked it into thinking there were no hands on.

In other words, if there is no motion on the steering wheel other than the stimulus that LDA provides, it concludes that no one is holding the wheel.

 

Sounds the alarm, but your right, same sense as having braille instructions in a drive -thru.

 

Alan was joking, guys! Actually the light comes on if LDA detects no input from from driver after a preset interval.

 

Funnily enough - non I didn't highlight it. I did a search for "HOLD" in the PDF manual - it was still highlighted from the search when I "snipped" the screenshot. You're right - the word firmly is the operative. I believe that the system senses whether the wheel has been being moved according to an algorithm in the computer - which is probably sampled on a 36yr old male 5'11" holding the wheel on a road which isn't dead straight and flat with a grip at 9:30 and 2:30 on the wheel. Less movement than the algorithm makes the computer a bit edgy - I think I read that it also logs it.

And, yes, with the coffee cup, I think it buzzes, beeps - (though I think a loud snore might be more appropriate).

 

You mean that isn't the Starbucks Ahead warning??

 

Could be done.

In my Garmin GPS I've uploaded a POI containing all Bars in the USA. My gps will alert me when I'm close to one with a "Beer nearby" notification.

 

The new Start button, standard on the V

 

Perhaps there is a calibration for this. I have started to get this error on a routine basis. At LEAST once a day. In all cases both hands have been on the wheel...

 

Perhaps the camera detects you've wandered close to, or across a lane line without signalling first. It can get very techy in those circumstances.