Patent ID: 8639433

Claim:
Method for supporting the driver of a vehicle in guiding the vehicle on a road, comprising: using an image sensor system, detecting at least two different types of image data of a vehicle environment outside of the vehicle, respectively differently selected from among lane marking data regarding lane markings that delimit a lane of the road, traffic sign data regarding traffic signs along the road, and license plate data regarding license plates of other motor vehicles, if the lane marking data are present, then performing a first evaluating of the lane marking data by a first image evaluation system with regard to detected lane-relevant information in the lane marking data, selected from a width of the lane markings, blank intervals and segment lengths of broken line lane markings, and a color of the lane markings, relative to first stored data that are stored in a first memory device and that indicate country-specific lane markings, from a first result of the first evaluating, if present, in the first image evaluation system generating a first country estimation signal that indicates a first estimate of a current location of the vehicle, if the traffic sign data are present, then performing a second evaluating of the traffic sign data by a second image evaluation system with regard to detected traffic-sign-relevant information in the traffic sign data, relative to second stored data that are stored in a second memory device and that indicate country-specific traffic signs, from a second result of the second evaluating, if present, in the second image evaluation system generating a second country estimation signal that indicates a second estimate of the current location of the vehicle, if the license plate data are present, then performing a third evaluating of the license plate data by a third image evaluation system with regard to detected license-plate-relevant information in the license plate data, relative to third stored data that are stored in a third memory device and that indicate country-specific license plates, from a third result of the third evaluating, if present, in the third image evaluation system generating a third country estimation signal that indicates a third estimate of the current location of the vehicle, in a microprocessor, by merging the plural country estimation signals, generating a country signal that indicates the current location of the vehicle, wherein the country signal is generated exclusively from only the image data, with the country signal, activating a driver information device outputting country-specific information regarding longitudinal and/or transverse guidance of the vehicle, and/or feeding the country signal to at least one driver assistance system that supports the longitudinal and/or transverse guidance of the vehicle.