Lane determination apparatus, lane-change determination program, and data structure

A lane-change program product for a controller of a lane determination apparatus, the lane-change program product comprising:

• a non-transitory computer-readable medium;
• and
• a set of computer program instructions embedded in the computer-readable medium, the instructions causing the controller to:
• retrieve, for each of a plurality of lanes, a continuously travelable distance, the continuously travelable distance for each of the lanes representing a distance for which the own vehicle is able to travel while keeping the corresponding one of the lanes;
• identify:
• a road, as a traveling road, on which the own vehicle is traveling;
• and
• one of the lanes, as a traveling lane, in which the own vehicle is traveling;
• compare a continuously travelable own-lane distance with at least one continuously travelable other-lane distance to accordingly determine whether lane change from the traveling lane to at least one other lane included in the plurality of lanes is suitable, the continuously travelable own-lane distance being the continuously travelable distance of the traveling lane of the own vehicle, the at least one continuously travelable other-lane distance being the continuously travelable distance of the at least one other lane;
• and
• output information indicative of whether lane change from the traveling lane to the at least one other lane is suitable.

A data structure of a lane data set for at least one lane, the lane data set being usable for a lane determination apparatus for keeping an own vehicle traveling on a traveling lane, the data structure of the lane data set for the at least one lane comprising:

• road identification information for identifying a road that includes the at least one lane;
• lane identification information for identifying the at least one lane;
• and
• a continuously travelable distance for the at least one lane representing a distance for which the own vehicle is able to travel while keeping the at least one lane,
• the continuously travelable distance for the at least one lane being defined to correlate with the road identification information about the road and the lane identification information about the at least one lane.