A driving assistance method of causing a host vehicle to travel by following a preceding vehicle includes: determining whether the preceding vehicle of the host vehicle is present or absent and, upon determining that the preceding vehicle is present, performing a preceding vehicle type determination of determining whether the preceding vehicle of the host vehicle is a four-wheeler or a two-wheeler; upon the preceding vehicle being a four-wheeler, performing both a control of inter-vehicle distance to the four-wheeler and a route following based on the four-wheeler; and upon the preceding vehicle being a two-wheeler, performing a control of inter-vehicle distance to the two-wheeler without performing a route following based on the two-wheeler.