Generating emergency vehicle warnings

• US 10,403,137 B1
• Filed: 01/23/2019
• Issued: 09/03/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 01/26/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
• Original Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
• Inventors: Grant, Rosemarie Geier
• Primary Examiner(s): Barakat, Mohamed
• Application Number:
  US16/255,048
• Time in Patent Office: 223 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3697 Output of additional, non-guidance related information, e.g. low fuel level G01C21/3679 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0965 responding to signals from another vehicle, e.g. emergency vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096758 where no selection takes place on the transmitted or the received information
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096775 where the origin of the information is a central station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096791 where the origin of the information is another vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096827 where the route is computed onboard
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096844 where the complete route is dynamically recomputed based on new data
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/162 event-triggered
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/166 for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/202 Dispatching vehicles on the basis of a location, e.g. taxi dispatching
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/205 Indicating the location of the monitored vehicles as destination, e.g. accidents, stolen, rental

Abstract

The present disclosure generally relates to generating emergency vehicle warnings, alternate vehicle routing recommendations and/or insurance-related data based upon emergency vehicle warning data. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to generating data representative of emergency vehicle warnings and/or alternate routing based upon real-time information related to an emergency vehicle. The information related to the emergency vehicle may include emergency vehicle origination location data, emergency vehicle current location data, emergency vehicle route data, and/or emergency vehicle destination location data. An emergency vehicle warning and/or alternate vehicle routing for non-emergency response vehicles may be generated based further on information related to a non-emergency vehicle. In one aspect, an emergency vehicle may wirelessly communicate with the non-emergency vehicle and/or an insurance provider remote server. The insurance provider may adjust auto insurance for insureds having vehicles with the vehicle safety functionality discussed herein to reflect lower risk and provide insurance savings to customers.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for generating data representative of an emergency vehicle warning and/or alternate vehicle route, the method comprising:

receiving, via or at one or more processors mounted on a non-emergency vehicle, emergency vehicle data via wireless communication and/or data transmission, wherein the emergency vehicle data is representative of an emergency vehicle route;

determining emergency vehicle warning data and an alternate vehicle route data, via or at the one or more processors mounted on the non-emergency vehicle, wherein the alternate vehicle route directs the non-emergency vehicle to avoid the route of the emergency vehicle or otherwise alleviates an amount that the non-emergency vehicle interferes with the route of the emergency vehicle;

causing, via or at the one or more processors mounted on the non-emergency vehicle, the emergency vehicle warning data and alternate vehicle route data, to be visibly or audibly presented, or otherwise provided, to a driver of the non-emergency vehicle to facilitate alleviating potential vehicle accidents between emergency response and non-emergency response vehicles, and/or shortening emergency response times for emergency vehicles;

receiving, via the one or more processors mounted on the non-emergency vehicle, an opt-in selection, wherein the opt-in selection is representative of a content of desired insurance policy related data and exclusion of personal information;

generating, via the one or more processors mounted on the non-emergency vehicle, insurance policy data for the driver of the non-emergency vehicle based upon the opt-in selection and further based upon the driver following recommendations associated with emergency vehicle warnings or alternate vehicle routing that avoids emergency vehicles en route; and

transmitting, via the one or more processors mounted on the non-emergency vehicle, to an insurance provider remote server to facilitate the insurance provider providing auto insurance cost savings to the driver or other insured based upon the insurance policy data and/or functionality associated with emergency vehicle avoidance.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle warning data is representative of at least one of:

an audible warning to stop, a visual warning to stop, an audible warning to move right, a visual warning to move right, an audible warning to move left, a visual warning to move left, an audible warning to move onto a shoulder of a road, a visual warning to move onto a shoulder of a road, an audible warning to merge to a right lane, a visual warning to merge to a right lane, or an audible warning to duplicate a siren tone.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the insurance policy data is representative of an insurance risk associated with a non-emergency vehicle, and the insurance risk is lower for a non-emergency vehicle that is equipped with an emergency vehicle warning data receiving device.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the insurance policy data is representative of an insurance risk associated with an emergency vehicle, and the insurance risk is lower for an emergency vehicle that is equipped with an emergency vehicle warning data generation, transmitting, and/or receiving device.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting, via the one or more processors mounted on the non-emergency vehicle, emergency vehicle warning data and alternate vehicle route data to other vehicles or processors.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the non-emergency vehicle is an autonomous or smart vehicle, and the autonomous or smart vehicle automatically directs itself to take an alternate vehicle route and take self-driving actions that allow the autonomous or smart vehicle avoid the emergency vehicle or the route of the emergency vehicle.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the emergency vehicle is an autonomous or smart vehicle, and the autonomous or smart vehicle automatically directs itself to take an alternate vehicle route and take self-driving actions that allow the autonomous or smart vehicle avoid the non-emergency vehicle or the route of the non-emergency vehicle.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 1, the method further comprising adjusting an insurance policy, premium, rate, or discount for the non-emergency vehicle based upon the non-emergency vehicle having the vehicle warning and/or alternate vehicle route generation functionality.

9. A vehicle-mounted system of a non-emergency vehicle for generating emergency vehicle warning data and/or alternate route data, the system comprising one or more processors mounted on the non-emergency vehicle configured to:

receive emergency vehicle data via wireless communication or data transmission, wherein the emergency vehicle data is representative of an emergency vehicle route;

generate an alternate route based upon computer analysis or comparison of the emergency vehicle data and non-emergency vehicle data, the non-emergency vehicle data associated with a route and current location of the non-emergency vehicle;

present the alternate route to the driver of the vehicle, or the vehicle itself, such that the driver of the vehicle, or the vehicle itself, may avoid the route of the emergency vehicle or that shortening of the response time for emergency vehicles is facilitated;

receive, via the one or more processors mounted on the non-emergency vehicle, an opt-in selection, wherein the opt-in selection is representative of a content of desired insurance policy related data and exclusion of personal information;

at least one of;

collect insurance policy data for the driver of the non-emergency vehicle or generate insurance policy data for the driver of the non-emergency vehicle, via the one or more processors mounted on the non-emergency vehicle, wherein the insurance policy data for the driver of the non-emergency vehicle is based upon the opt-in selection and further based upon the driver following recommendations associated with emergency vehicle warnings or alternate vehicle routing that avoids emergency vehicles en route, and

transmit, via the one or more processors mounted on the non-emergency vehicle, the insurance policy data to an insurance provider remote server to facilitate the insurance provider providing auto insurance cost savings to the driver or other insured based upon the insurance policy data and/or functionality associated with emergency vehicle avoidance.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the non-emergency vehicle is an autonomous vehicle that automatically avoids the route of the emergency vehicle based upon computer comparison or analysis of the emergency and non-emergency vehicle data.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the emergency vehicle is an autonomous vehicle that automatically avoids the route of the non-emergency vehicle based upon computer comparison or analysis of the emergency and non-emergency vehicle data.

12. The system of claim 9, the one or more processors mounted on the non-emergency vehicle further configured to:

generate vehicle warning data based upon the computer analysis or the comparison of the emergency vehicle data and the non-emergency vehicle data, wherein the vehicle warning data is representative of at least one of;

an audible warning to stop, a visual warning to stop, an audible warning to move right, a visual warning to move right, an audible warning to move left, a visual warning to move left, an audible warning to move onto a shoulder of a road, a visual warning to move onto a shoulder of a road, an audible warning to merge to a right lane, a visual warning to merge to a right lane, or an audible warning to duplicate a siren tone.

13. The system of claim 9, the one or more processors mounted on the non-emergency vehicle further configured to:

generate an emergency vehicle warning based upon computer analysis or comparison of the emergency vehicle data and the non-emergency vehicle data; and

/or

present the emergency vehicle warning to the driver of the vehicle such that the driver of the vehicle, or the vehicle itself, may avoid the route of the emergency vehicle or that shortening of the response time for emergency vehicles is facilitated.

14. A computer implemented method for generating data representative of an emergency vehicle warning and/or alternate vehicle route, the method comprising:

receiving, via or at one or more processors associated with, or mounted on, a non-emergency vehicle, emergency vehicle data via wireless communication or data transmission, wherein the emergency vehicle data is representative of an emergency vehicle route;

generating, via or at the one or more processors associated with, or mounted on, the non-emergency vehicle, emergency vehicle warning data and alternate vehicle route data based upon computer analysis or comparison of the emergency vehicle data with non-emergency vehicle data, the non-emergency vehicle data including a route and current location of the non-emergency vehicle;

causing, via or at the one or more processors associated with, or mounted on, the non-emergency vehicle, the emergency vehicle warning data and alternate vehicle route data, to be visually or audibly presented, or otherwise provided, to a driver of the non-emergency vehicle to facilitate alleviating potential vehicle accidents between emergency response and non-emergency response vehicles;

receiving, via or at the one or more processors associated with, mounted on, the non-emergency vehicle, an opt-in selection, wherein the opt-in selection is representative of a content of desired insurance policy related data and exclusion of personal information;

generating, via or at the one or more processors associated with, or mounted on, the non-emergency vehicle, insurance policy data for the driver of the non-emergency vehicle based upon the opt-in selection and further based upon the driver following recommendations associated with emergency vehicle warnings or alternate vehicle routing that avoids emergency vehicles en route; and

transmitting, via or at the one or more processors associated with, or mounted on, the non-emergency vehicle, to an insurance provider remote server to facilitate the insurance provider providing auto insurance cost savings to the driver or other insured based upon the insurance policy data and/or functionality associated with emergency vehicle avoidance.

15. The computer implemented method of claim 14, the method further comprising adjusting an insurance policy, premium, rate, or discount for the non-emergency vehicle based upon the non-emergency vehicle having the vehicle warning and/or alternate vehicle route generation functionality.

16. The computer implemented method of claim 14, wherein the non-emergency vehicle is an autonomous or smart vehicle, and the autonomous or smart vehicle automatically directs itself to take an alternate vehicle route and take self-driving actions that allow the autonomous or smart vehicle avoid the emergency vehicle or the route of the emergency vehicle.

17. The computer implemented method of claim 14, the method further comprising adjusting an insurance policy, premium, rate, or discount for an autonomous, non-emergency response vehicle based upon the autonomous, non-emergency response vehicle having the vehicle warning and/or alternate vehicle route generation functionality.

18. The computer implemented method of claim 14, the method further comprising adjusting an insurance policy, premium, rate, or discount for the emergency response vehicle based upon the emergency response vehicle having the emergency response vehicle data generation and/or broadcast functionality.

19. The computer implemented method of claim 14, further comprising:

generating, via the one or more processors mounted on the non-emergency vehicle, insurance policy data for the driver of the non-emergency vehicle based upon the driver following recommendations associated with emergency vehicle warnings or alternate vehicle routing that avoids emergency vehicles en route.

20. The computer implemented method of claim 19, further comprising:

transmitting, via the one or more processors mounted on the non-emergency vehicle, to an insurance provider remote server to facilitate the insurance provider providing auto insurance cost savings to the driver or other insured based upon the insurance policy data and/or functionality associated with emergency vehicle avoidance.