Apparatus and method for assisting driving of a host vehicle

1 . An apparatus for assisting driving of a host vehicle, the apparatus comprising:

a navigation system configured to provide first information, the first information comprising location information of the host vehicle;

a sensor configured to provide second information, the second information comprising at least forward information of the host vehicle or detectable pedestrian information;

a processor configured to:

receive the first and the second information, determine whether the host vehicle has entered a first area based on at least the first information or the second information, the first area being a driving caution area, determine a second area relative to the host vehicle, and

brake the host vehicle when the host vehicle is located in the first area and at least one pedestrian is located in the second area;

wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine a high-risk pedestrian, a height of the high-risk pedestrian being smaller than a predetermined height, determine a third area for the high-risk pedestrian, the third area wider than the second area;

brake the host vehicle when the host vehicle is located in the first area and at least one high-risk pedestrian has entered the third area, wherein the pedestrian information comprises the height of the pedestrian.

2 . The apparatus for assisting driving of a host vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to issue a warning if the host vehicle has entered the first area and the pedestrian is present in the first area.

3 . The apparatus for assisting driving of a host vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine the number of pedestrians and expand the second area when the number of pedestrians increases.

4 . The apparatus for assisting driving of a host vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine at least one of whether the pedestrian is moving and an approaching speed of the pedestrian and expand the second area when the pedestrian is moving or the approaching speed increases.

5 . The apparatus for assisting driving of a host vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to perform the operations only if the speed of the host vehicle is less than a reference speed.

6 . A method for assisting driving of a host vehicle by a processor, the method comprising:

receiving first information and second information, the first information comprising location information of the host vehicle generated by a navigation system communicatively connected to the processor, the second information, which is generated by a sensor communicatively connected to the processor, comprising at least forward information of the host vehicle or detectable pedestrian information; determining whether the host vehicle has entered a first area based on at least the first information or the second information, the first area being a driving caution area;

determining a second area relative to the host vehicle; and

braking the host vehicle when the host vehicle is located in the first area and at least one pedestrian is located in the second area;

determining a high-risk pedestrian, a height of the high-risk pedestrian being smaller than a predetermined height;

determining a third area for the high-risk pedestrian, the third area wider than the second area;

braking the host vehicle when the host vehicle is located in the first area and at least one high-risk pedestrian has entered the third area; and

wherein the pedestrian information comprises the height of the pedestrian.

7 . The method for assisting driving of a host vehicle of claim 6 , further comprising issuing a warning if the host vehicle has entered the first area and the pedestrian is present in the first area.

8 . The method for assisting driving of a host vehicle of claim 6 , further comprising determining the number of pedestrians and expanding the second area when the number of pedestrians increases.

9 . The method for assisting driving of a host vehicle of claim 6 , further comprising:

determining at least one of whether the pedestrian is moving and an approaching speed of the pedestrian; and

expanding the second area when the pedestrian is moving or the approaching speed increases.

10 . An apparatus for assisting driving of a host vehicle, the apparatus comprising:

a navigation system configured to provide first information, the first information comprising location information of the host vehicle;

a sensor configured to provide second information, the second information comprising at least forward information of the host vehicle or detectable pedestrian information;

a processor configured to:

receive the first and the second information,

determine whether the host vehicle has entered a first area based on at least the first information or the second information, the first area being a driving caution area,

determine a second area relative to the host vehicle, and

brake the host vehicle when the host vehicle is located in the first area and at least one pedestrian is located in the second area,

wherein the processor is further configured to determine at least one of a number of pedestrians increases, a pedestrian is moving or an approaching speed of a pedestrian increases, and

wherein the processor is further configured to expand the second area in response to at least one of determining that the number of pedestrian increases, the pedestrian is moving or the approaching speed of the pedestrian increases.