A vehicle environment recognition apparatus includes stereo-image taking means for outputting a reference image of the surroundings of a subject vehicle, stereo matching means for correlating a parallax with each pixel block in the reference image by stereo matching, preceding-vehicle detecting means for detecting a preceding vehicle from the reference image on the basis of the parallax or the like, and smear determining means for searching a pixel column vertically extending in the reference image for brightnesses of pixels, the pixel column including a pixel block having a parallax less than or equal to a long-distance parallax threshold value corresponding to the long distance including infinity, and determining that a smear occurs when a ratio of the number of pixels having brightnesses more than or equal to a predetermined brightness to the total number of pixels in the pixel column is more than or equal to a predetermined ratio.