Vehicle, and method of assisting driving of same

Abstract

A motorcycle is provided with a determining unit for determining the presence of an automotive vehicle on a non-public road area, an antilock brake system, and a selector unit for selecting the antilock brake system to a behavior mode or a non-behavior mode on the basis of the determination made by the deterring unit. The selector unit, in the event that the presence of the automotive vehicle is determined present on the non-public road by the determining unit, enables the antilock brake system to be settable in the behavior mode or the non-behavior mode.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An automotive vehicle which comprises:
 a determining unit to determine the presence of the automotive vehicle on a non-public road area;   a drive assistance device to assist a driving operation of a driver; and   a selector unit to select a drive assistance by the drive assistance device from a public road mode to a non-public road mode in the event that the determining unit determines the presence of the automotive vehicle on the non-public road area, wherein   the selector unit is configured as to be selectable by the driver in a vehicle run enabled condition.   
     
     
         2 . The automotive vehicle as claimed in  claim 1 , the selector unit is prohibited from selecting the mode of the drive assistance when running on the public road area. 
     
     
         3 . The automotive vehicle as claimed in  claim 1 , in which the selector unit selects the drive assistance device to the public road mode at an operation start stage at which a vehicle operation is initiated. 
     
     
         4 . The automotive vehicle as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising a display unit to display the capability of selecting the public road mode and the non-public road mode in the event that the determining unit determines the automotive vehicle present on the non-public road area and also to display the non-public road mode being selected in the event that the non-public road mode is selected. 
     
     
         5 . The automotive vehicle as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising a mode changing switch to select a driving mode during the run on the public road, wherein the selector unit determines the selection of the non-public road mode when the mode change switch is operated. 
     
     
         6 . The automotive vehicle as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein:
 when the determining unit determines the presence of the automotive vehicle on the non-public road area, the selector unit enables the selection of the non-public road mode while the public road mode is maintained; and
 when the selector unit selects the non-public road mode, the mode of the drive assistance device is changed to the non-public road mode. 
   
     
     
         7 . The automotive vehicle as claimed in  claim 1 , in which the determining unit determines the non-public road mode when a protective component of the automotive vehicle is removed. 
     
     
         8 . The automotive vehicle as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising a mount detecting unit configure to output a signal indicative of the non-public road area when an identification key is inserted into a vehicle body,
 wherein the determining unit determines the presence of the automotive vehicle on the non-public road area based on the signal from the mount detecting unit.   
     
     
         9 . The automotive vehicle as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the selector unit selects the mode of the drive assistance device into the public road mode when a predetermined time elapses during which the run halted condition continues after the non-public road mode has been selected. 
     
     
         10 . A drive assistance method for use in an automotive vehicle that is equipped with a drive assistance device for assisting a drive operation performed by a driver, which method comprises:
 a determining step to determine the presence of the automotive vehicle on a predetermined assistance selectable area by a determining device;   a selecting step to enable a drive assistance mode by the drive assistance device by the driver only when the presence of the automotive vehicle on the assistance selectable area is determined by the determining step; and   a switching step to change to the drive assistance mode, selected by the selecting step, to enable the drive assistance to be accomplished.