| CPC B60W 30/12 (2013.01) [B60W 30/18163 (2013.01); B60W 2720/24 (2013.01)] | 12 Claims |

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1. A travel assistance method for a vehicle, the method comprising:
determining whether a route-following lane change along a set travel route can be assisted with autonomous lane change control;
in response to a determination that the route-following lane change can be assisted with the autonomous lane change control, autonomously controlling the vehicle to make the route-following lane change in a first direction; and
in response to a determination that the route-following lane change cannot be assisted with the autonomous lane change control, notifying a driver that the route-following lane change cannot be made with the autonomous lane change control, and prohibiting the autonomous lane change control from assisting a lane change in a second direction opposite to the first direction even in a case where an operation by the driver would otherwise cause the autonomous lane change control to assist with the lane change in the second direction.
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