Patent ID: 8065084

Claim:
A method for determining a plausibility of an object detected by a driver assistance system of a motor vehicle, wherein the driver assistance system includes a locating system, the method comprising: locating, by the locating system, objects in the surroundings of the vehicle, the objects including stationary objects and moving objects; measuring, by the locating system, lateral offsets of the located objects in a direction perpendicular to a direction of travel of the motor vehicle; defining a travel route envelope for the motor vehicle; and determining a plausibility of the moving objects based on whether the moving objects are one of inside and outside of the travel route envelope, wherein the plausibility determination includes: statistical analysis of the lateral offsets of the stationary objects to detect left and right roadway boundaries; analysis of the lateral offsets of the moving objects to detect any adjacent lanes; calculating a first probability value that the vehicle is in an extreme right traffic lane of the roadway, and a second probability value that the vehicle is in an extreme left traffic lane; and varying at least one of a width and a lateral position of the travel route envelope as a function of the first and second probability values.