Patent ID: 7386385

Claim:
A system for evaluating a driving environment of a driver's motor vehicle and for influencing a speed of the driver's motor vehicle relative to other motor vehicles in the driving environment, the system comprising: a desired speed signal transmitter that is configured to generate a signal that is characteristic of a desired speed of the driver's motor vehicle; an actual speed signal transmitter that is configured to generate a signal that is characteristic of an actual speed of the driver's motor vehicle; a yaw rate signal transmitter that is configured to generate a signal that is characteristic of a yaw rate of the driver's motor vehicle; an object signal transmitter that is configured to generate a signal that is characteristic of a distance and a bearing angle, relative to the driver's motor vehicle, of the other motor vehicles; an electronic control unit (ECU) that is configured to generate an output signal in response to the desired speed signal, the actual speed signal, the yaw rate signal, and the object signal; and a control device that is configured to influence the actual speed of the driver's motor vehicle in response to the output signal, wherein the ECU is configured to: select one of the other motor vehicles as a target motor vehicle; generate the output signal in response to the desired speed signal, the actual speed signal, and the object signal for the selected one of the other motor vehicles; and detect a lane change of the driver's motor vehicle when a change of the bearing angle of the target motor vehicle is above a specific threshold value and substantially equal to an angular turning of the driver's motor vehicle about its vertical axis with an inverse sign.