PARKING ASSISTANCE DEVICE

In the invention, in automatic parking, a route from a parking start position to a target parking position is calculated prior to the start of parking. However, there are cases where an external environment recognition device cannot detect an obstacle at a distant or blind spot. In such a case, smooth parking is hindered when the vehicle is actually automatically parked. In the invention, in Step S the vehicle is virtually moved from a parking start position in the direction of a turning position, and a turning position is calculated on a parking route In Step S a preliminary route to a target parking position when the vehicle is turned back at the turning position is calculated. In the next Step S it is determined whether the preliminary route can be generated, and when the preliminary route satisfies a predetermined condition, the route calculated by a candidate route calculation unit is adopted as an automatic parking route.