In a parking assistance apparatus disclosed herein, when a lateral parking
mode switch is set at an initial stop position A, a controller calculates
a backward movement start position B for parking based on a yaw angle and
a steering angle of a vehicle, and issues guiding information to stop the
vehicle upon having determined that the vehicle has reached the
calculated backward movement start position B. After having sensed that a
shift lever was shifted to a reverse position, the controller displays on
a display an image captured by a camera as to an area behind the vehicle,
and also displays on the display in a superimposed manner an estimated
vehicle space in the case where the vehicle moves backwards while
maintaining a steering angle at the time of the shift of the shift lever.
The driver operates a steering wheel so as to establish a suitable
positional relation between the estimated vehicle space and a target
parking space on the display, whereby an appropriate steering angle is
obtained in moving the vehicle backwards.