Patent ID: 7788012

Claim:
A headway maintenance assist system comprising: a first deceleration control system configured to perform a first deceleration control of a host vehicle according to a detected distance between the host vehicle and a preceding obstacle; a second deceleration control system configured to perform a second deceleration control of the host vehicle according to the detected distance, in which the second deceleration control is different from the first deceleration control; a driver operable selection section configured to allow a driver to arbitrarily turn “on” and “off” each of the first and second deceleration control systems, while prohibiting simultaneous operation of both of the first and second deceleration control systems; and a preceding vehicle detection section configured to detect a preceding vehicle in front of the host vehicle as the preceding obstacle; the first deceleration control system being configured to selectively control both acceleration and deceleration of the host vehicle in response to changes in the detected distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle; and the second deceleration control system being configured to only control deceleration in relation to the preceding vehicle.