The invention discloses an automotive collision avoidance safety protecting device and a protecting method based on infrared image processing. The protecting device disclosed by the invention comprises an infrared camera and camera control subsystem, an infrared camera pickup illuminating subsystem, a central processing unit, an acoustic image and light alarming subsystem, a vehicle speed control subsystem, a signal detecting module and a power module. By an infrared imaging technology, the device and the method disclosed by the invention are suitable for the automotive safety protection under various environmental climate conditions and various road conditions; an obstacle mathematical model based on a virtual lane and an identification space is established, and precise distance measurement on an obstacle is completed; the identification space is established in the virtual lane, the range of images to be processed is limited, the quantity of processing data is effectively reduced, and the real-time performance and the rapidness of the device are guaranteed; and an obstacle distance measuring formula is derived with the obstacle mathematical model, distance measurement is simple and reliable, the practicability is stronger, normal overtaking and steering are not affected, collision accidents and real-end collision can be effectively avoided, and driving safety is guaranteed.