Vehicle control apparatus

A vehicle control apparatus for implementing inter-vehicle distance control of a vehicle carrying the apparatus behind a preceding vehicle based on reflected waves from a target that is a reflecting portion of the preceding vehicle, the vehicle carrying the apparatus being referred to as a subject vehicle, the reflected waves being radar waves transmitted to a front of the subject vehicle and then reflected from the target, the apparatus comprising:

• a target information acquirer configured to acquire target information about the target from the reflected waves, the target information including a detected distance from the subject vehicle to the target of the preceding vehicle;
• a controller configured to implement the inter-vehicle distance control based on an inter-vehicle distance between a rear end of the preceding vehicle and the subject vehicle acquired from the detected distance;
• and
• a control switcher configured to, when the target information for identifying the rear end of the preceding vehicle becomes unacquirable during implementation of the inter-vehicle distance control, suspend the inter-vehicle distance control and make a switch to the direct operation by the driver.