Patent ID: 8401758

Claim:
A method for assisting an operator of a vehicle which is approaching a set of traffic lights which permits a stop line to be crossed in at least one first operating state and does not permit the stop line to be crossed in a second operating state, the method comprising: receiving, by a processor in the vehicle, a signal which describes a current operating state of the set of traffic lights and a time period until the operating state changes, verifying, by the processor, whether the vehicle can reach the stop line at a speed from a predefined speed range while the set of traffic lights is in the first operating state based on the received signal, and controlling, by the processor, a speed of the vehicle based on a result of the verification as long as a measured distance between the vehicle and an object located in front of the vehicle is greater than or equal to a threshold value, wherein the speed of the vehicle is controlled to maintain a predefined distance between the vehicle and the object located in front of the vehicle when the measured distance is less than the threshold value.