Vehicle control device and vehicle control method

A vehicle control method, comprising:

• in a vehicle control device comprising a standard inter-vehicle distance setting module, an inter-vehicle distance measuring module, an effectiveness ratio setting module, and a drive control module:
• setting, by the standard inter-vehicle distance setting module, a standard inter-vehicle distance based on a velocity of a subject vehicle that includes the vehicle control device;
• measuring, by the inter-vehicle distance measuring module, an inter-vehicle distance between the subject vehicle and an immediately preceding vehicle;
• setting, by the effectiveness ratio setting module, an effectiveness ratio based on an inter-vehicle distance difference between the standard inter-vehicle distance and the inter-vehicle distance and an acceleration opening ratio of an accelerator pedal of the subject vehicle,
• wherein the effectiveness ratio indicates a proportion of an output to a user input;
• and
• controlling, by the drive control module, a drive of the subject vehicle based on the effectiveness ratio.