Disclosed is a drive assistance apparatus capable of assisting safer driving of a vehicle. The voltage level of the voltage control signal is converted in a one-bit analog-to-digital converter to a digital output indicative of the voltage level. The preliminary charging stage is performed in the following parallel driving period when the data of the present parallel driving period and the data of the following parallel driving period are different. The middle shield is in a down track direction from the first read sensor. Fifteen bits are used to store the state information for each VCG member in low order and seventeen bits are used to store the state information for each VCG member in high order. The instruction manual comprises an answer key that lists the association of the plurality of music tracks on the audio storage medium with the various continents, subregions of continents and countries.