Modifying behavior of autonomous vehicle based on predicted behavior of other vehicles

A vehicle, comprising:

• at least one sensor, wherein the at least one sensor is configured to acquire:
• i) vehicle state information;
• and
• ii) environment state information;
• wherein the vehicle state information comprises information about a current state of the vehicle, wherein the environment state information comprises information about a current state of an environment of the vehicle, wherein the environment of the vehicle comprises at least one other vehicle;
• and
• a computer system configured to:
• i) determine the current state of the vehicle based on the vehicle state information;
• ii) determine the current state of the environment of the vehicle based on the environment state information;
• iii) determine a predicted behavior of the at least one other vehicle based on at least the current state of the vehicle and the current state of the environment of the vehicle, wherein the predicted behavior comprises at least one of the at least one other vehicle accelerating, the at least one other vehicle decelerating, the at least one other vehicle changing heading, the at least one other vehicle changing lanes, the at least one other vehicle leaving the roadway, the at least one other vehicle responding to a third vehicle, or the at least one other vehicle responding to an obstacle;
• iv) determine a confidence level, wherein the confidence level comprises a likelihood of the at least one other vehicle to perform the predicted behavior, and wherein the confidence level is based on at least the predicted behavior, the current state of the vehicle, and the current state of the environment of the vehicle;
• and
• v) control the vehicle in the autonomous mode based on the predicted behavior, the confidence level, the current state of the vehicle, and the current state of the environment of the vehicle.

A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored therein instructions executable by a computer system to cause the computer system to perform functions comprising:

• determining a current state of a vehicle, wherein the vehicle is configured to operate in an autonomous mode;
• determining a current state of an environment of the vehicle, wherein the environment of the vehicle comprises at least one other vehicle;
• determining a predicted behavior of the at least one other vehicle based on at least the current state of the vehicle and the current state of the environment of the vehicle, wherein the predicted behavior comprises at least one of the at least one other vehicle accelerating, the at least one other vehicle decelerating, the at least one other vehicle changing heading, the at least one other vehicle changing lanes, the at least one other vehicle leaving the roadway, the at least one other vehicle responding to a third vehicle, or the at least one other vehicle responding to an obstacle;
• determining a confidence level, wherein the confidence level comprises a likelihood of the at least one other vehicle to perform the predicted behavior, and wherein the confidence level is based on at least the predicted behavior, the current state of the vehicle and the current state of the environment of the vehicle;
• and
• controlling the vehicle in the autonomous mode based on the predicted behavior, the confidence level, the current state of the vehicle, and the current state of the environment of the vehicle.