Patent ID: 11919515
Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  G | IPC B

Claim 13:
14. A vehicle control method comprising:
recognizing, by a computer, a surrounding situation of a host vehicle;
controlling, by the computer, one or both of steering and a speed of the host vehicle;
allowing, by the computer, the host vehicle to travel in any one of a plurality of driving modes including a first driving mode in which the host vehicle is allowed to travel such that an inter-vehicle distance between a recognized preceding vehicle and the host vehicle becomes a target inter-vehicle distance and a second driving mode in which the host vehicle is decelerated and moved to a target position;
designating, by the computer, an inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle that travels in front of the host vehicle as a first inter-vehicle distance when the host vehicle is allowed to travel in the first driving mode;
designating, by the computer, an inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle as a second inter-vehicle distance when the host vehicle is allowed to travel in the second driving mode, and
designating, by the computer, the target inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle in a switching period between the first driving mode and the second driving mode as a longer distance between the first inter-vehicle distance and the second inter-vehicle distance when the driving mode is switched from the first driving mode to the second driving mode in a prescribed state,
wherein the prescribed state includes a state in which a driving mode in operation cannot continue in the host vehicle or a state in which an occupant of the host vehicle is not suitable for driving.