Patent ID: 8749370

Claim:
A gear shift indicator used in a vehicle having mounted thereon a manual gear transmission capable of performing a manual gear shift, and encouraging gear shift instructions to a driver, the gear shift indicator comprising: a target gear shift stage setting unit that sets a target gear shift stage in accordance with a vehicle speed and a throttle opening degree of the vehicle, a presentation unit that presents the gear shift instructions facilitating a transition to the target gear shift stage when a current gear shift stage is different from the target gear shift stage set by the target gear shift stage setting unit, and a restriction unit that restricts the current gear shift stage from being transferred to a predetermined gear shift stage in accordance with at least one of a travelling state of the vehicle and road conditions ahead of the vehicle in travelling, wherein (i) the presentation unit is operative to refer to information indicative of the gear shift stage restricted by the restriction unit under a condition that the restriction for a transition to the predetermined gear shift stage is executed by the restriction unit and not to present the gear shift instructions when the target gear shift stage is a gear shift stage restricted by the restriction unit, and (ii) the presentation unit is operative to present the gear shift instructions under the condition that the restriction for the transition to the predetermined gear shift stage is not executed by the restriction unit.