ASSIST APPARATUS AND ASSIST METHOD

An assist apparatus includes a second detection section, a first calculation section, and a notification section. The second detection section detects, as a region candidate which is a candidate for a region to which the own vehicle makes a lane change, one of one or more inter-vehicle regions sandwiched between two approaching vehicles one of which is located ahead of the other. The first calculation section calculates an acceptable distance, a vehicle A being one of the two approaching vehicles and having a relatively small relative distance to the own vehicle and a vehicle B being the other of the two approaching vehicles and having a relatively large relative distance to the own vehicle. The notification section notifies each approaching vehicle of a lane change intention, when the relative distance between the own vehicle and the vehicle A is less than the acceptable distance.