Patent ID: 8155856

Claim:
A vehicle running control system comprising: front-environment recognition means for recognizing a running environment in front of a subject vehicle; target-object extracting means for extracting target objects in front of the subject vehicle on the basis of the running environment recognized by the front-environment recognition means; target-object registration means for registering a target object closest to the subject vehicle, of the target objects extracted by the target-object extracting means; follow-up running control means configured for performing both throttle control and brake control so that the subject vehicle follows the registered target object, with implementation of either the throttle control or brake control being circumstance determined; and running control determining means for determining whether or not to cause the follow-up running control means to perform control so that the subject vehicle follows the registered target object, wherein the running control determining means compares an estimated time taken until the subject vehicle collides with the registered target object with a set threshold value, and causes the follow-up running control means to initiate follow-up running control so that the subject vehicle follows the target object when the estimated time is shorter than the threshold value.