An autonomous vehicle and a system and method for operating the autonomous vehicle. The system includes a sensor and a processor. A disturbance force or yaw moment is received on the autonomous vehicle. The sensor measures a position of the autonomous vehicle within a lane of a road with respect to road boundaries and lane markings. The processor is configured to resist an effect of a disturbance force or yaw moment received on the autonomous vehicle. The processor minimizes a tracking error between a path of the autonomous vehicle and an initial track lane, wherein resisting the effect creates an inflection point in the path of the autonomous vehicle, establishes a final track lane at a closer of a lateral position of the inflection point and a lane center to the initial track lane, and tracks the path to the final track lane.