Driving assistance apparatus

A driving assistance apparatus to be applied to a vehicle, the driving assistance apparatus comprising:

• a traveling state detector configured to detect a traveling state of the vehicle;
• an occupant monitoring detector configured to monitor a state of an occupant of the vehicle;
• an emotion determination processor configured to determine an emotion of the occupant, based on an output of the traveling state detector regarding the traveling state and an output of the occupant monitoring detector regarding the state of the occupant;
• an environment recognizer configured to recognize an environment around the vehicle;
• and
• a driving assistance processor configured, in accordance with one or more of the output of the traveling state detector, an output of the emotion determination processor, and an output of the environment recognizer regarding the environment around the vehicle, to:
• determine that the occupant is in an attention-distracted state;
• in response to determining that the occupant is in the attention-distracted state, (1) prioritize providing the occupant with first one of multiple alarms related to an object that poses a collision risk to the vehicle, wherein the collision risk surpasses a first threshold, and (2) lower a second threshold for traveling assistance control that is lane departure prevention control to generate a yaw moment in a restoration direction when the vehicle departs or is likely to depart from a lane, such that the lane departure prevention control intervenes earlier compared to when the second threshold is not lowered;
• determine that the occupant is in an anxious and confused state;
• in response to determining that the occupant is in an anxious and confused state, (1) prioritize providing the occupant with second one of multiple alarms related to a relationship between the vehicle and a traveling course of the vehicle;
• and (2) lower a third threshold for autonomous emergency braking control to be performed when the object that poses the collision risk to the vehicle, wherein the collision risk surpasses the first threshold, such that the autonomous emergency braking control intervenes earlier compared to when the third threshold is not lowered;
• determine that the occupant is in an impatient and angry state;
• in response to determining that the occupant is in the impatient and angry state, prioritize providing occupant route environment information rated to a curvature and a gradient of a road, a sun position, or a decrease in air temperature on the road, rather than the multiple alarms;
• and
• control the vehicle based on determining that (1) the occupant is in the attention-distracted state, (2) the occupant is in the anxious and confused state, or (3) the occupant is in an impatient and angry state.