Cruise control device

A cruise control device applied to a vehicle including a target detection unit configured to detect targets present in front of an own vehicle in a cruising direction thereof, including a following control unit configured to recognize, as a following target, a target for following among the targets detected by the target detection unit, to set a target acceleration or target speed such that the following is performed with a target inter-vehicular distance being maintained with respect to the following target, and to perform a following control of controlling an acceleration of the own vehicle based on the set target acceleration or target speed while the own vehicle is following the following target, and setting the target acceleration or target speed such that a speed of the following target relative to the own vehicle is increased by a predetermined speed in a case where a distance between the own vehicle and the following target becomes shorter than the target inter-vehicular distance during a period of execution of the following control by the following control unit, the cruise control device comprising:

• a determination unit configured to determine whether a small vehicle switching state has occurred or not, the following target having been switched to the target different from the target recognized as the following target so far during the period of execution of the following control by the following control unit and a vehicle type of the switched target being a small vehicle in the small vehicle switching state;
• an upper limit storage unit configured to store, as an upper limit value, the target acceleration or target speed set before determination as the small vehicle switching state by the determination unit under a condition where the determination unit determines that the small vehicle switching state has occurred;
• and
• a target acceleration setting unit configured to set the target acceleration or target speed to equal to or lower than the upper limit value stored in the upper limit storage unit during a period until the following control performed for the target, which has been determined as the small vehicle, as the following target ends after the determination unit has determined that the small vehicle switching state has occurred.