Travel Control Method and Travel Control Apparatus

A travel control apparatus comprising:

• a recognition processing circuit that recognizes a lane line of a traffic lane in which a host vehicle is traveling;
• a vehicle control circuit that performs lane keeping control such that a lateral position of the host vehicle is at a predetermined position with respect to the lane line;
• a sensor that detects a preceding vehicle traveling ahead of the host vehicle in the traffic lane;
• and
• a cancelling circuit that, when the recognition processing circuit does not detect the lane line while the sensor detects the preceding vehicle during the lane keeping control, cancels the lane keeping control when a predetermined time has passed after the lane line is no longer detected, wherein
• the predetermined time is shorter when a following distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle is longer than a predetermined value than when the following distance is shorter than or equal to the predetermined value.