"Consider Taking a Break" in KIA - What Does This Message Mean?

Modern vehicles are very often smarter than some people. They are so smart that they even know when to pop up a certain message for you to motivate the driver to take a break. Subaru cars are known to send these signals for some years now, and also the new KIA vehicles started doing this. So, this is actually why you can see a "Consider Taking a Break" or "Take a Break" message in your dash.

Consider taking a break message highlights

• Common reasons:you've been driving for long
• How to fix:turn off the car, turn it on again
• Possible consequences:no consequences
• Priority level:Low
• Can you drive?Yes
• DIY repair:Possible
• Repair price range:$0

Consider Taking a Break - what does this mean in your KIA?

Every new KIA vehicle is filled with clever electronics which is aimed to help you drive safely. Some of these electronic units control the way your vehicle goes on the road while some others are engineered to help you make good decisions when you are driving. Driver's aid systems are important and you should consider them when they show some messages.

Most KIA vehicles will tell you "Consider Taking a Break" or just "Take a Break" after you drive for some time without a stop. This is a relatively new feature for KIA cars, so vehicles from 2019 only will show this kind of message. We've seen this in KIA Optima, KIA Telluride, and other models.

Here's how the system works:

• the vehicle registers the moment when you first start the engine in the car and start moving on the roads;
• if the engine is on for 2 hours or more, the message will pop up to remind you that continuous driving may be challenging for your attention;
• but KIA went further and introduced a special system in its luxury cars that "reads" the condition of the driver;
• basically, this is an artificial-intelligence-powered unit that understands when you are driving the wrong way;
• if the system catches that you don't pay the needed attention to the road conditions, waving between lanes, etc., it will offer you to take a break;
• so, this is the combination of factors that turn on this message in your dashboard and you shouldn't just ignore this;
• the system gathers information from numerous sensors and it also "remembers" the usual way you are driving;
• then it compares all the data it has to analyze and you get the message if it feels you are not in your best condition.

Usually, you can see this message when you drive on highways and your speed is constant for 2 hours and more. But sometimes things are different. This is the AI-powered thing and it may glitch a little. We've heard some Telluride owners say their cars message them all the time to get some rest. And this may be annoying.

So, now you know that your new KIA cares about your safety and may offer you to get some rest if it sees that the vehicle is driven in a strange way. It may notice any changes that may signal the tiredness of the driver. And this is a cool feature until it starts malfunctioning. As every KIA electronic part in the vehicle. The tiredness control is not perfect. And we'll try to tell you everything we know about making it work well again.

Can you turn off the "Consider Taking a Break" message?

Yes, you definitely can turn it off. For this, you will have to use your infotainment system. In different cars, the eventual procedure will vary a bit, so we won't give you any certain instructions, but, in most cases, it will take you just a minute or two to turn this thing off and get rid of the annoying message.

But we don't recommend turning this feature off. The thing is that a person can never say he or she is exhausted and doesn't control the road anymore. When you drive on highways, it may seem OK for you, but your reaction changes. Especially when you start falling asleep after you've already made over 300 miles a day.

This system may literally save your life. It sends you a message along with the sound that will wake you up. And if you see that you are tired, the best solution is to stop your car in the nearest safe place and have a nap. Even 20-minute sleep may change things and you'll be safe.

So, if you've decided to turn it off, here's the approximate guide for this:

• use your infotainment system to find settings;
• in the settings, find the safety systems or dash messages;
• you may also look at the RCCA system, this feature may be hidden there;
• find the "Consider Taking a Break" message;
• turn it off or change some other settings that you want to change;
• apply and save your changes, you may need to reboot the system.

This may sound simple, but you will actually struggle to find the needed section. As always, all safety features are quite hard to find and change in any KIA vehicle. But if this message irritates you, just spend some time and deal with it.

I've already written about such a message in Subaru cars. But there it says "2 Hours From Ignition On" which is pretty misleading and very often Subaruu owners treat it as a problem. Thnank you Kia for such an understandable text of the message!

Why you may see the "Take a Break" message often in your KIA?

As we've already told you, the system is not perfect because it's new. We don't think the company had a lot of time to test it before launching, so many people continue reporting problems. KIA forums are full of threads where people try to understand why they keep getting this message and experiencing problems with their KIA cars.

Well, the problem is that software may glitch, hardware may send wrong signals to the control unit, or you may just drive not carefully enough and experience some problems because of that. This may lead to issues just like this message popping up there and then.

If you see the "Consider Taking a Break" with a cup of coffee in the dash, here's what you should do:

• don't worry much - this message will not limit the speed of your car or change anything else;
• just don't do anything - the message will hang on the dash for 30 seconds and then disappear;
• be more careful - maybe the vehicle noticed that you started driving with less attention;
• stop your KIA in a safe place and have some rest, just walk in the fresh air a little;
• limit your speed and try driving carefully for some time, the message shouldn't reappear.

Many people ask the question of whether the message will reappear regularly. No, it will only appear once again if the vehicle still thinks you have to take a break. It may happen after 10 minutes or maybe after 3 hours - there is no special interval for this.

Also, you may notice that the vehicle will beep a couple of times when this message appears on the dash. This is because the system wants to wake you up in case you've fallen asleep when driving. This sound is the most irritating thing in the whole case because it distracts you from the road. And this is the first reason why you want to disable the message at. But think about the good sides of this function, too.

Why does your new KIA show the "Take a Break" message?

The new KIA still doesn't know how you usually drive, so it uses some average settings to compare your driving style. This means you will have to wait until the vehicle makes changes to these settings and will learn your style of driving. After a month or two, this problem shouldn't bother you.

We still don't recommend turning the feature off even if it's annoying for you. Just wait a couple of weeks and you'll see that the problem is not that bad. The message will appear not that often. But if you once drive on the highway and actually fall asleep, this system may save your life. It's certainly worth waiting a bit.

Final words

We love new KIA cars but sometimes they may feel a little too insistent on something. The first reaction when you see all those annoying messages is to turn off the systems that send them. But it's not the best idea for you. Just learn how to drive your KIA so that those messages don't bother you and this will mean that you've mastered the safest driving style.