Driving assistance device, driving assistance method, and program

A driving assistance method comprising:

• by way of a computer,
• recognizing a situation around a vehicle;
• controlling one or both of acceleration/deceleration and steering of the vehicle;
• determining a driving mode of causing the vehicle to travel by any of a plurality of driving assistances having a different task imposed on a driver of the vehicle;
• determining whether or not the driver is responding to the imposed task;
• issuing an alarm when it is determined that the driver is not responding to the imposed task;
• and
• executing a control in which the determined driving mode is switched to the driving mode to which a function restriction is applied based on a travel situation around the vehicle and a presence or absence of a change in a behavior of the driver after the alarm is issued.

A computer-readable non-transitory storage medium that stores a program which causes a computer to:

• recognize a situation around a vehicle;
• control one or both of acceleration/deceleration and steering of the vehicle;
• determine a driving mode of causing the vehicle to travel by any of a plurality of driving assistances having a different task imposed on a driver of the vehicle;
• determine whether or not the driver is responding to the imposed task;
• issue an alarm when it is determined that the driver is not responding to the imposed task;
• and
• execute a control in which the determined driving mode is switched to the driving mode to which a function restriction is applied based on a travel situation around the vehicle and a presence or absence of a change in a behavior of the driver after the alarm is issued.