Patent ID: 8185266

Claim:
A fuel saving driving assistance apparatus for a vehicle, the apparatus comprising: a travel state determining section to determine a travel state as to whether the vehicle is in a halting state or in a slow moving state; an accelerator opening determining section to determine an accelerator opening as to whether an accelerator opening degree of an accelerator of the vehicle is zero; and a driving operation diagnosing section to diagnose a driving operation as to whether a fuel saving driving operation is performed, the driving operation diagnosing section being further configured to calculate, based on determination results by the travel state determining section and the accelerator opening determining section, an accelerator zero travel duration within a deceleration duration, the accelerator zero travel duration being a travel duration for which the vehicle travels in a state where the accelerator opening degree is zero, the deceleration duration being a duration up to a time when the vehicle becomes in the halting state or the slow moving state, calculate an accelerator zero travel distance, which is a travel distance traveled by the vehicle for the calculated accelerator zero travel duration, and determine, based on the calculated accelerator zero travel distance, whether a fuel saving driving operation was performed with respect to a driving operation during the accelerator zero travel duration.