COLLISION AVOIDANCE ASSISTANCE DEVICE FOR A VEHICLE

A collision avoidance assistance device for a vehicle includes: a capturing unit (70) configured to acquire an image of at least part of the surroundings of the vehicle; an animal image detection unit configured to detect an image of an animal; an animal type determination unit configured to determine a type of an animal; an animal presence area prediction unit configured to predict a future area in which the animal will be present based on behavior characteristics index values representing behavior characteristics of the determined type of the animal; a collision possibility determination unit configured to determine a possibility of collision of the animal with the vehicle based on a result of the prediction of the future area in which the animal will be present; and an assistance processing performing unit configured to perform assistance processing for collision avoidance when it is determined that there is a possibility of collision of the animal with the vehicle.