Vehicle control device

A vehicle control device that controls driving and/or braking of an ego-vehicle to perform preceding vehicle-tracking automatic travel, the vehicle control device comprising:

• a road surface detection circuit that detects a travel lane area of a lane on which the ego-vehicle travels;
• an object detection circuit that detects an object which is in a direction of travel of the ego-vehicle;
• a road surface update circuit that updates the travel lane area on a basis of the travel lane area of the ego-vehicle detected by the road surface detection circuit and a preceding vehicle blocking area imparted to a user by a preceding vehicle detected by the object detection circuit;
• a target inter-vehicle distance adjustment circuit that, in light of the travel lane area updated by the road surface update circuit, adjusts a target inter-vehicle distance between the ego-vehicle and the preceding vehicle;
• and
• a viewing angle calculation circuit that calculates, from a speed of the ego-vehicle, a viewing angle blocking area representing an effect of a viewing angle on the user, wherein the road surface update circuit mirrors the viewing angle blocking area in the travel lane area.