A method and system for evaluating inter-vehicle traffic gaps and time instances to perform a lane change maneuver is described. The method includes determining a set of trajectories which respectively constitutes an approximation of the feasible motion of the ego vehicle, evaluating the set of trajectories on the available inter-vehicle traffic gaps and time instances to perform the lane change maneuver over a prediction horizon to select a subset of feasible inter-vehicle traffic gaps and time instances to perform the lane change maneuver and to establish a corresponding set of lane change trajectories, evaluating the set of lane change trajectories on the subset of feasible inter-vehicle traffic gaps and time instances from a safety critical perspective, and selecting a preferred lane change trajectory, with corresponding inter-vehicle traffic gap and time instance, to perform the lane change maneuver.