Autonomous driving control device

A vehicle control device for controlling an autonomous driving control and a manual driving control, wherein the autonomous driving control is a driving mode which automatically controls the vehicle to travel along a travel plan, wherein the travel plan is a trajectory along which the vehicle is to move on a desired route generated by a navigation system, an obstacle detection unit and a map database, and wherein the manual driving control is the driving mode in which the vehicle travels based primarily on a driving operation by the driver and secondarily on a driving operation assist control that assists the driving operation by the driver, the vehicle control device comprising:

• an electronic control unit programmed to:
• start execution of the autonomous driving control;
• during execution of the autonomous driving control, detect that an override operation by the driver has occurred for switching from the autonomous driving control to the manual driving control;
• based upon a detection that the override operation has occurred, determine whether a predetermined time period has elapsed since the autonomous driving control started;
• when the predetermined time period has elapsed, switch the driving mode from the autonomous driving control to the manual driving control if the override operation is equal to or more than a first threshold;
• when the predetermined time period has not elapsed, switch the driving mode from the autonomous driving control to the manual driving control if the override operation is equal to or more than a second threshold, wherein the first threshold is less than the second threshold;
• and
• when the predetermined time period has not elapsed, maintain the autonomous driving control if the override operation is less than the second threshold.