In a vehicle control system performing collision avoiding control when a
collision with a preceding vehicle cannot be avoided by normal running
condition control, driving safety is improved by prompting a driver to
intervene in the vehicle's control in a reliable manner. When a set
switch is turned on in the "cancel" state, the transition to the
"in-control, inter-vehicle distance control" sub-state occurs and an
inter-vehicle distance control is performed. If a collision with a
preceding vehicle cannot be avoided by the inter-vehicle distance control
(if the collision alarm flag XA=1), transition to the "in-control,
collision alarm" sub-state occurs and a collision alarm is generated. If
the acceleration required for avoiding collision is further increased (if
the collision avoiding control flag XC=1), the state transits to the
"in-control, collision avoiding control" sub-state, and a collision
avoiding control is performed.