Autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle systems have been developed to aid vehicle operators in driving a vehicle and/or to perform automated operation of the vehicle with no operator intervention needed. These systems generally use vehicle sensors and other positional tools to control one or more aspects of vehicle operation. While autonomous vehicle systems are still being developed, many vehicle systems that are currently available provide autonomous or semi-autonomous driving features, such as adaptive cruise control (ACC). ACC systems allow a vehicle operator to set a desired speed without having to reset and/or adjust such speed when a slower leading vehicle inhibits the vehicle from cruising at the set desired speed. However, these systems are not without their drawbacks.
For example, in current ACC systems, one or more sensors may be used to track a target vehicle that is in front of the host vehicle and to determine the relative position of the target vehicle with respect to the host vehicle. While this relative positional information may be useful in terms of maintaining a safe following distance, it may not be enough by itself to determine whether the host vehicle, target vehicle, or both vehicles are switching lanes and how to control the host vehicle in response thereto. With sufficient information to determine which vehicle is switching lanes or “cutting out”, vehicle autonomous or semi-autonomous systems, such as ACC systems, may be able to operate more favorably, thereby creating a better passenger and/or operator experience.