1. An apparatus for detecting an object around a vehicle comprising: a vehicle positioning device operable to detect a vehicle position; a database, the database including three-dimensional geographical data; an area defining device operable to utilize the three-dimensional geographical data to define an area for detecting a target; object detecting device operable to measure a distance between a vehicle position and an object and determine whether the object is within the area defined by the area defining unit; and an output device operable to identify if the object detecting device has detected an object within the area.