Systems and devices for assessing fines for traffic disturbances

• US 20070250334A1
• Filed: 04/25/2006
• Published: 10/25/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Kreiner, Barrett, Reeves, Jonathan
• Granted Patent: US 7,375,652 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/933
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0104 Measuring and analyzing of parameters relative to traffic conditions

Abstract

Traffic disturbances are detected and data is collected by various sensors where the data reflects the entity that is responsible for the disturbance and the number of vehicles that are impacted by the disturbance. The data is analyzed to determine whether a traffic violation has occurred and to then assess a fine based at least on the number of vehicles that have been impacted as a result of the traffic violation. The fine may then be collected by notifying the entity that is responsible, such as by sending a message to an electronic device of the entity. The notification may provide for an automated payment of the fine or an option to appeal the fine. Additionally, those affected by the traffic disturbance may be identified and granted a portion of the fine that has been imposed and collected.

Claims

1. A computer readable medium containing instructions for assessing fines for traffic disturbances by performing acts comprising:

collecting data regarding a cause of a traffic disturbance and data reflecting an impact of the traffic disturbance;

comparing the collected data regarding the cause to a traffic violation rule set to detect whether the data regarding the cause represents a traffic violation; and

computing a total fine based on the data reflecting the impact of the traffic disturbance.

2. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the impact of the traffic disturbance reflects the number of vehicles impacted.

3. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the acts further comprise computing the total fine based on the particular traffic violation.

4. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the acts further comprise identifying an entity responsible for the traffic disturbance from the data regarding the cause.

5. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the acts further comprise identifying those affected by the traffic disturbance and determining a portion of the total fine to grant to those affected.

6. The computer readable medium of claim 4, wherein the acts further comprise presenting the total fine to the entity identified as being responsible for the traffic disturbance.

7. The computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the acts further comprise presenting an option to the entity identified as being responsible to pay the total fine or appeal the fine.

8. The computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the acts further comprise at least one of transferring an electronic message to an electronic device of the entity responsible for the traffic disturbance and generating a paper ticket addressed to the entity responsible for the traffic disturbance.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the acts further comprise capturing an image of a vehicle of the entity responsible for the traffic disturbance and capturing an image of a group of vehicles impacted.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the acts further comprise performing pattern recognition to count the number of vehicles present in the image of the group of vehicles impacted.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the acts further comprise determining an amount of the fine to remit to each of the vehicles that are impacted.

12. A device for determining traffic violations, comprising:

an input receiving data representing a cause of a traffic disturbance;

storage containing a traffic violation rule set specifying multiple traffic violations; and

a processor that compares the data representing the cause to the traffic violation rule set to determine whether the cause satisfies at least one of the traffic violations.

13. The device of claim 12, wherein the data representing the cause comprises at least one image of a vehicle in relation to the traffic disturbance.

14. The device of claim 12, wherein the processor performs image processing to detect parameters of the vehicle in relation to the traffic disturbance and compares those parameters to vehicle parameters of the traffic violation rule set to determine whether the detected parameters match the vehicle parameters.

15. The device of claim 12, wherein the data representing the cause comprises at least one sensor signal representative of parameters of the vehicle.

16. The device of claim 15, wherein the processor compares the parameters represented by the sensor signal to vehicle parameters of the traffic violation rule set to determine whether the parameters represented by the sensor signal match the vehicle parameters.

17. The device of claim 16, wherein the parameters comprise at least one of vehicle direction, vehicle speed, vehicle acceleration, steering input, accelerator input, and brake input.

18. A device for assessing a penalty for a traffic violation that causes a traffic disturbance, comprising:

an input receiving data representing a total impact of a traffic disturbance and receiving data representing which traffic violation has occurred;

storage containing an association of a fine for a unit of impact of a traffic disturbance to at least one traffic violation; and

a processor that computes a total fine based on the data representing the total impact of the traffic disturbance in relation to the fine per unit of impact for the traffic violation that has occurred.

19. The device of claim 18, wherein the data representing the traffic violation indicates a severity of the violation and wherein the fine per unit of impact varies depending upon the severity of the traffic violation.

20. The device of claim 18, wherein the data representing the traffic violation indicates a severity of the traffic disturbance in addition to the number of vehicles impacted, and wherein the fine per unit of impact varies depending upon the severity of the traffic disturbance.