Vehicle control device, vehicle control method, and storage medium

A vehicle control method of controlling traveling of a vehicle at a roundabout in which a plurality of connected roads is connected to a circular road, the vehicle control method comprising:

• acquiring a traveling route of the vehicle including the circular road and an exit road that is a connected road to which the vehicle is to exit from the circular road among a plurality of the connected roads;
• acquiring speed limits of the circular road and the exit road;
• calculating target vehicle speed when the vehicle exits to the exit road from the circular road based on the speed limits;
• calculating an acceleration necessary period or an acceleration necessary distance necessary for accelerating the vehicle to the target vehicle speed based on current vehicle speed of the vehicle that is traveling on the circular road and the target vehicle speed;
• and
• starting acceleration control of accelerating the vehicle at predetermined acceleration when the calculated acceleration necessary period or the calculated acceleration necessary distance satisfies a predetermined start condition.

A non-transitory storage medium storing a program that causes a computer of a vehicle control device that controls traveling of a vehicle at a roundabout in which a plurality of connected roads is connected to a circular road to execute processing of:

• acquiring a traveling route of the vehicle including the circular road and an exit road that is a connected road to which the vehicle is to exit from the circular road among a plurality of the connected roads;
• acquiring speed limits of the circular road and the exit road;
• calculating target vehicle speed when the vehicle exits to the exit road from the circular road based on the speed limits;
• calculating an acceleration necessary period or an acceleration necessary distance necessary for accelerating the vehicle to the target vehicle speed based on current vehicle speed of the vehicle that is traveling on the circular road and the target vehicle speed;
• and
• starting acceleration control of accelerating the vehicle at predetermined acceleration when the calculated acceleration necessary period or the calculated acceleration necessary distance satisfies a predetermined start condition.