Vehicle control apparatus and method

A control method for a vehicle including an information acquisition device and a controller, the control method comprising:

• acquiring by the information acquisition device vehicle-surroundings information which is information on a surroundings situation of the vehicle;
• and
• performing by the controller driving support control including at least speed control for controlling a speed of the vehicle when a driving support operation state is an on state,
• wherein the control method comprises:
• in a case where the driving support operation state is the on state and a driving operation switching request for changing the driving support operation state from the on state to an off state is issued,
• changing by the controller the driving support operation state from the on state to the off state at a driving operation switching time point at which a predetermined time has elapsed from a request time point at which the driving operation switching request is issued,
• calculating by the controller a target speed at the driving operation switching time point in accordance with a situation in front of the vehicle determined based on the vehicle-surroundings information acquired at the request time point,
• performing by the controller deceleration control in place of the speed control, the deceleration control being control such that the speed of the vehicle matches the target speed at the driving operation switching time point, and
• terminating by the controller the deceleration control at the driving operation switching time point
• wherein the acquiring the vehicle-surroundings information further comprises acquiring, as the vehicle-surroundings information, image data including a left lane line and a right lane line which define a lane in which the vehicle travels, and
• wherein the control method further comprises:
• in the case where the driving support operation state is the on state and the driving operation switching request is issued,
• calculating by the controller a first distance and a second distance, the first distance being a distance between a position of the vehicle at the request time point and an edge of the left lane line, which is farthest in a travel direction of the vehicle regardless of whether the left lane is straight or curved, recognized from the image data at the request time point, and the second distance being a distance between the position of the vehicle at the request time point and an edge of the right lane line, which is farthest in the travel direction of the vehicle regardless of whether the right lane is straight or curved, recognized from the image data at the request time point,
• selecting by the controller a shorter one of the first distance and the second distance as a distance parameter, and
• calculating by the controller the target speed by using the distance parameter.