Patent ID: 8423250

Claim:
A vehicle control device comprising: a vehicle speed obtaining unit that obtains a vehicle speed of a host vehicle; an object distance obtaining unit that obtains a distance to an object ahead of the host vehicle; a collision judgment unit that determines whether or not there is a risk of a collision between the object and the host vehicle, based on the obtained vehicle speed and the obtained distance to the object; a vehicle speed judgment unit that, responsive to a determination by the collision judgment unit that there is a risk of a collision between the object and the host vehicle, determines whether or not the obtained vehicle speed is less than a turnable speed, the turnable speed being a speed at which the host vehicle can safely turn; an avoidance judgment unit that, responsive to a determination by the vehicle speed judgment unit that the obtained vehicle speed is less than the turnable speed, determines whether the collision between the object and the host vehicle can be avoided through a steering operation based on whether or not there is an adjacent lane next to a lane in which the host vehicle is traveling; and a braking control unit that executes braking control to decelerate the host vehicle responsive to a determination by the vehicle speed judgment unit that the obtained vehicle speed is equal to or greater than the turnable speed, or responsive to a determination by the avoidance judgment unit that a collision between the object and the host vehicle cannot be avoided by a steering operation.