Patent ID: 8880305

Claim:
A vehicle control apparatus for a vehicle installed with an automatic transmission having an inhibit function, the vehicle control apparatus comprising: an automatic return selector to receive an operation for selecting an operating condition of the automatic transmission and to output a selection signal corresponding to a received selection operation; a switch to switch the operating condition of the automatic transmission in accordance with the selection signal output by the selector; a determining unit to determine, based on the selection signal output by the selector, whether or not the selector has been operated consecutively at least a predetermined number of times within a predetermined period while the vehicle travels, and to output an emergency operation signal when determining that the selector has been operated consecutively; and a brake unit apply braking to the vehicle based on an operation by a driver and the emergency operation signal output by the determining unit, wherein the determining unit outputs the emergency operation signal when determining that selecting an identical operating condition, from among a plurality of ones of the operating condition that are selectable by the selector, has been performed consecutively at least the predetermined number of times within the predetermined period, and wherein the determining unit outputs the emergency operation signal when determining that selecting a reverse condition has been performed consecutively at least the predetermined number of times within the predetermined period during a forward travel.