Driving support apparatus

1. A driving support apparatus for performing driving support control of an own vehicle in a present lane with respect to a preceding vehicle running ahead of the own vehicle, the own vehicle equipped with an object detection device configured to detect an object in a surroundings an own vehicle, the driving support apparatus comprising:

an other vehicle determination unit configured to determine whether an other vehicle in an adjacent lane is moving towards the present lane, the adjacent lane located adjacent to the present lane within which the own vehicle runs;

an acquiring unit configured to acquire, based on detection information of the object from the object detection device, a tip end lateral position of the other vehicle, the acquiring unit acquiring the tip end lateral position among lateral positions of the other vehicle in a direction perpendicular to a travelling direction of the own vehicle; and

an object determination unit configured to, in a state in which the other vehicle determination unit determines that the other vehicle is moving towards the present lane,

determine the other vehicle to be an object for performing driving support control based on a movement or a predicted movement of the tip end lateral position into the present lane from the adjacent lane, and

determine the other vehicle to not be an object for performing driving support control based on a lack of movement of the tip end lateral position into the present lane, wherein

the object determination unit is configured to calculate, based on a travelling direction and a travelling speed of the other vehicle existing in the adjacent lane, an amount of lateral movement of the other vehicle in a direction perpendicular to the present lane, and determines, based on the amount of lateral movement, whether the tip end lateral position will move into the present lane from the adjacent lane, and

the object determination unit is configured to calculate the amount of lateral movement based on an acceleration value of the other vehicle in a direction away from the own vehicle.

2. The driving support apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the driving support apparatus includes:

a portion determination unit configured to determine whether the tip end lateral position of the other vehicle acquired by the acquiring unit is a lateral position of a portion of the other vehicle other than a front end portion of the other vehicle; and

an estimation unit configured to estimate, in response to the portion determination unit determining that the tip end lateral position the of the other vehicle is the lateral position of a portion other than a front end portion of the other vehicle, a new tip end lateral position of the other vehicle, based on a travelling direction of the other vehicle, a lateral position of the other vehicle, and length information in a front-rear direction of the other vehicle.

3. The driving support apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the object determination unit is configured to calculate the amount of lateral movement in response to the travelling direction of the other vehicle changing to a direction away from the present lane.

4. The driving support apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the driving support apparatus includes a support control unit, and

in response to the other vehicle determination unit determining that the other vehicle is moving towards the present lane, the support control unit is configured to perform a braking control that brakes a vehicle based on a movement or a predicted movement of the tip end lateral position into the present lane from the adjacent lane, and is configured to perform an alert control that attracts a driver's attention based on a lack of movement the tip end lateral position into the present lane.

5. The driving support apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the acceleration value is a value in which the acceleration value occurs at a time in which a steering angle of the other vehicle is at a maximum in a direction away from the present lane.

6. A method for performing driving support control of an own vehicle in a present lane with respect to a preceding vehicle running ahead of the own vehicle, the own vehicle equipped with an object detection device configured to detect an object in a surroundings an own vehicle, the method comprising:

determining whether an other vehicle in an adjacent lane is moving towards the present lane, the adjacent lane located adjacent to the present lane within which the own vehicle runs;

acquiring, based on detection information of the object from the object detection device, a tip end lateral position of the other vehicle, the tip end lateral position being acquired among lateral positions of the other vehicle in a direction perpendicular to a travelling direction of the own vehicle; and

determine, in a state in which the other vehicle is determined to be moving towards the present lane, that the other vehicle is an object for performing driving support control based on a movement or a predicted movement of the tip end lateral position into the present lane from the adjacent lane; and

determine that the other vehicle is not be an object for performing driving support control based on a lack of movement of the tip end lateral position into the present lane,

wherein

an amount of lateral movement of the other vehicle in a direction perpendicular to the present lane is calculated based on a travelling direction and a travelling speed of the other vehicle existing in the adjacent lane, and whether the tip end lateral position will move into the present lane from the adjacent lane is determined based on the amount of lateral movement, and

the amount of lateral movement is calculated based on an acceleration value of the other vehicle in a direction away from the own vehicle.