If you use your turn signal it doesn't do that.

I now have a car with that system after having an old dumb car for the preceding 20+ yrs of driving, and I keep it off by default, and turn it on only when I know I’ll be slightly distracted for a few minutes.

It was just too difficult to get used to, and frankly it was so sensitive to where it was that just being near the edge of the road, where I like to ride to give other drivers as much space as possible because I don't trust them, set it off and it fought against me constantly, causing far more swerving than I’d otherwise do.. it’s also a giant asshole about country driving, where lane markers only apply when theres other cars around.

I could see it being useful for new drivers who never had to learn to do fully manual driving, though, the same way power steering was a useful change that was difficult to adjust to for those who learned without it.

This is what I see in this post. I have not been driving tons of modern cars, but I did drive a dozen or so with this feature. Never had any issues with this.

Firstly - using blinker disables lane assist. Anyone mentioning "I use exit line and it doesn't let me" had outed themselves as BMW drivers/not using blinker when needed. "Avoiding debris" - yeah, sure... Keep distance, watch the road, glance at the mirrors to be aware of everything around you, and certainly do no speedup.

Secondly - this may vary to each brand/model but for the ones I drove it only just slightly makes it harder to leave the lane. Using bit more strength would still lead you to leave the lane. Kind of similar to a car without a power steering. Doubt that safety standards would let wheel lock you in the lane while changing lanes without a blinker.

Other than that, technically these features are nice-to-haves and are not a necessity. Not being able to turn them off is quite a PITA, I agree.

Ah yes, using the turn signal is the first thing I think of when avoiding road debris.