VEHICLE DRIVE ASSIST APPARATUS

A vehicle drive assist apparatus is to be applied to a vehicle. The apparatus includes an object recognizer, a risk area setter, a risk level setter, a route candidate setter, a route evaluation value calculator, and a vehicle travel route setter. The object recognizer recognizes an object in front of the vehicle. The risk area setter sets, when small objects are around the object, a risk area including the small objects. The risk level setter sets a risk level for the risk area based on a distribution state of the small objects within the risk area. The route candidate setter sets patterns of route candidates for avoiding a risk resulting from the risk area. The route evaluation value calculator calculates a route evaluation value for each of the route candidates. The vehicle travel route setter sets, as a vehicle travel route, the route candidate having an optimum route evaluation value.