SUBJECTIVE ROUTE RISK MAPPING AND MITIGATION

• US 20170221149A1
• Filed: 02/02/2016
• Published: 08/03/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate Corporation)
• Inventors: McKenna, Thomas, Hsu-Hoffman, Chienlan, Madigan, Regina
• Granted Patent: US 10,269,075 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance

Abstract

A system for determining a subjective risk score may include a vehicle and/or a computing device associated with a user travelling within the vehicle. The computing device may receive input from the user when the user feels a sense of unease regarding a particular road segment upon which the vehicle is traveling. The system may further include a subjective risk analysis computing system that may be communicatively coupled to the computing device. The subjective risk analysis computing system may receive subjective risk information corresponding to the user'"'"'s sense of unease regarding particular road segments and may process the subjective risk information to determine a subjective risk score for each of a plurality of road segments along a route. An insurance company may use this information to determine whether to adjust a quote or premium of an insurance policy.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a vehicle;

a computing device associated with a user travelling within the vehicle, the computing device receiving input from the user when the user feels a sense of unease regarding a particular road segment; and

a subjective risk analysis computing system communicatively coupled to the computing device, the subjective risk analysis computing system receiving subjective risk information corresponding to the user'"'"'s sense of unease regarding particular road segments and processing the subjective risk information to determine a subjective risk score for each of a plurality of road segments along a route.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the computing device comprises at least one of a smart phone, a personal navigation device, a vehicle computing system, a laptop computer, and a tablet computer.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the computing device further comprises at least one of an input device or a sensor for receiving the input from the user representative of a sense of unease regarding the particular road segment.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle further comprises an input device for receiving the input from the user representative of a sense of unease regarding the particular road segment.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the input device comprises a button located within a cabin of the vehicle and accessible to the user.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the input device further comprises a pressure sensor, wherein the pressure transducer produces a pressure signal corresponding to a level of unease being experienced by the user during a subjective risk event, wherein the subjective risk analysis computing system analyzes the pressure signal when determining the subjective risk score for each of a plurality of road segments along the route.

7. The system of claim 4, wherein the input device further comprises a biometric sensor, wherein the biometric sensor produces a biometric signal representative of a level of unease or alertness being experienced by the user during a subjective risk event and wherein the subjective risk analysis computing system analyzes the biometric signal when determining the subjective risk score for each of a plurality of road segments along the route.

8. The system of claim 4, wherein the input device further comprises an imaging device, wherein the imaging device to monitor a level of driver alertness and wherein the subjective risk analysis computing system analyzes an image produced by the imaging device when determining the subjective risk score for each of a plurality of road segments along the route.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising a global positioning system, wherein the global positioning system is located within close proximity to the user, wherein the global positioning system associates a current location of the vehicle along the route and is associated with the input when received from the user.

10. A method comprising:

receiving, from a user accessing an input device within a vehicle, information representative of a user'"'"'s sense of risk regarding a plurality of road segments; and

analyzing, by a subjective risk analysis system, the information representative of the user'"'"'s sense of risk regarding the plurality of road segments to determine a subjective risk score associated with each of the plurality of road segments.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein a user device further comprises the input device for receiving information from the user representative of an emotional response of the user comprising at least a sense of unease or a sense of alertness regarding a particular road segment.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the vehicle further comprises the input device.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the input device comprises a button located within a cabin of the vehicle and accessible to the user.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the input device further comprises a pressure transducer, wherein the pressure transducer produces a pressure signal corresponding to a level of unease being experienced by the user during a subjective risk event, wherein the subjective risk analysis computing system analyzes the pressure signal when determining the subjective risk score for each of a plurality of road segments along a route.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

analyzing, by a subjective risk analysis system, a plurality of subjective risk scores corresponding to the plurality of road segments, wherein the plurality of subjective risk scores correspond to aggregated information corresponding to a plurality of drivers that have traveled the same plurality of road segments and have experienced some form of unease while traveling along a route.

16. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

communicating, in near real-time, subjective risk information received from the input device via a communications network to the subjective risk analysis system.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the input device further comprises a biometric sensor, wherein the biometric sensor produces a biometric signal representative of a level of unease or alertness being experienced by the user during a subjective risk event and wherein the method further comprises:

analyzing, by the subjective risk analysis computing system, the biometric signal in determining the subjective risk score for each of a plurality of road segments along the route.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein the input device further comprises an imaging device, wherein the imaging device to monitor a level of driver alertness and wherein the method further comprises:

analyzing, by the subjective risk analysis computing system, an image produced by the imaging device in determining the subjective risk score for each of a plurality of road segments along the route.

19. A vehicle comprising:

an input device accessible to an occupant of the vehicle, the input device to receive subjective risk information regarding the occupant'"'"'s sense of ease or sense of unease regarding a plurality of road segments upon which the vehicle is travelling;

a communication interface communicatively coupled to the input device, the communication interface for communicating the subjective risk information via a wireless or wired communication protocol to a vehicle computing system; and

a subjective risk analysis engine of the vehicle computing system, the subjective risk analysis engine for analyzing the subjective risk information received from the occupant to determine a subjective risk score associated with the occupant.

20. The vehicle of claim 19, comprising:

a wireless communication interface communicatively coupled to the vehicle computing system, wherein the subjective risk analysis engine communicates the subjective risk score associated with the occupant to a remote computing system.