Driving support controller

1. A driving support controller, comprising:

a lane change opportunity determination module that determines whether there is an opportunity to change a traveling lane based on a predetermined condition in a self-driving activated state in which an acceleration, a deceleration, and a steering of a vehicle equipped with the driving support controller are automatically controlled, and performs a control to present a lane change proposal to an operator of the vehicle when the lane change opportunity determination module determines that a lane change is possible;

an operator intention determination module that determines an operator's intention regarding the lane change proposal; and

a lane change control module that controls the acceleration, the deceleration and the steering of the vehicle to perform an automatic lane change control in response to a determination of the operator intention determination module that the operator agrees to the lane change proposal,

wherein, when the operator intention determination module determines that the operator's intention is in disagreement with the lane change proposal, the lane change opportunity determination module suspends the control to present the lane change proposal to the operator until a predetermined cancelling condition is met, and

wherein, when the operator intention determination module determines that the operator's intention is in disagreement after the lane change control module starts the automatic lane change, the lane change control module determines, based on a progressing state of the lane change, whether to stop the automatic lane change control.

2. The driving support controller of claim 1 , wherein, when the operator intention determination module determines that the operator's intention is in disagreement and the lane change control module stops the automatic lane change control after the lane change control module starts the automatic lane change, the lane change opportunity determination module also suspends the control to present the lane change proposal to the operator until the cancelling condition is met.

3. The driving support controller of claim 1 , wherein the cancelling condition comprises a detection of a lane change instruction by the operator.

4. The driving support controller of claim 2 , wherein the cancelling condition comprises a detection of a lane change instruction by the operator.

5. The driving support controller of claim 1 , wherein the cancelling condition comprises an elapse of a preset time.

6. The driving support controller of claim 2 , wherein the cancelling condition comprises an elapse of a preset time.

7. The driving support controller of claim 1 , wherein the lane change opportunity determination module suspends the control to present the lane change proposal but performs a control to indicate to the operator an occurrence of the opportunity to change the lane when the lane change opportunity determination module determines the opportunity occurs to change the lane during a period in which the control to present the lane change proposal to the operator is suspended.

8. The driving support controller of claim 2 , wherein the lane change opportunity determination module suspends the control to present the lane change proposal but performs a control to indicate to the operator an occurrence of the opportunity to change the lane when the lane change opportunity determination module determines the opportunity occurs to change the lane during a period in which the control to present the lane change proposal to the operator is suspended.

9. The driving support controller of claim 3 , wherein the lane change opportunity determination module suspends the control to present the lane change proposal but performs a control to indicate to the operator an occurrence of the opportunity to change the lane when the lane change opportunity determination module determines the opportunity occurs to change the lane during a period in which the control to present the lane change proposal to the operator is suspended.

10. The driving support controller of claim 4 , wherein the lane change opportunity determination module suspends the control to present the lane change proposal but performs a control to indicate to the operator an occurrence of the opportunity to change the lane when the lane change opportunity determination module determines the opportunity occurs to change the lane during a period in which the control to present the lane change proposal to the operator is suspended.

11. The driving support controller of claim 5 , wherein the lane change opportunity determination module suspends the control to present the lane change proposal but performs a control to indicate to the operator an occurrence of the opportunity to change the lane when the lane change opportunity determination module determines the opportunity occurs to change the lane during a period in which the control to present the lane change proposal to the operator is suspended.

12. The driving support controller of claim 6 , wherein the lane change opportunity determination module suspends the control to present the lane change proposal but performs a control to indicate to the operator an occurrence of the opportunity to change the lane when the lane change opportunity determination module determines the opportunity occurs to change the lane during a period in which the control to present the lane change proposal to the operator is suspended.