VEHICLE CONTROLLER, METHOD, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR VEHICLE CONTROL

A vehicle controller includes a processor configured to detect, ahead of a host vehicle, a merging section in which an adjacent lane adjacent to a host vehicle lane being traveled by the host vehicle merges into the host vehicle lane, detect one or more other vehicles traveling on the adjacent lane, determine whether to allow at least one of the detected vehicles to precede the host vehicle at a lane change of the one of the detected vehicles to the host vehicle lane in the merging section, and control acceleration or deceleration of the host vehicle so that a rear end of the host vehicle is ahead of a front end of a second vehicle following a first vehicle allowed to precede the host vehicle. The first and second vehicles are among the detected vehicles.