Vehicle control method and vehicle control device

A vehicle control device comprising a processor for controlling travel of a subject vehicle along a planned traveling route from a current position of the subject vehicle to a destination, wherein the processor is configured to:

• obtain road information of a subject vehicle traffic lane in which the subject vehicle travels and road information of a branching traffic lane branching from the subject vehicle traffic lane when the branching traffic lane is present in a traveling direction of the subject vehicle on the planned traveling route;
• determine whether driver operation information by a driver of the subject vehicle indicating an intention of traveling in a planned traveling lane on the planned traveling route has been obtained or not, with the branching traffic lane as the planned traveling lane;
• determine whether a road structure requiring deceleration of the subject vehicle is present or not in the planned traveling lane based on road information of the planned traveling lane;
• perform a deceleration control of the subject vehicle based on the road information of the planned traveling lane and vehicle information of the subject vehicle when determining that the driver operation information has been obtained and determining that the road structure requiring deceleration of the subject vehicle is present in the planned traveling lane;
• and
• perform a vehicle speed control of the subject vehicle based on the road information of the subject vehicle traffic lane and the vehicle information of the subject vehicle when determining that the driver operation information has not been obtained.