System and method for taking risk out of driving

• US 7,659,827 B2
• Filed: 05/08/2006
• Issued: 02/09/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/08/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lytx, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Lytx, Inc.
• Inventors: Gunderson, Charlie, Lurie, Doron, Moeller, Bruce, Lefleur, Tom
• Primary Examiner(s): Mullen; Thomas J
• Application Number:
  US11/382,222
• Publication Number:
  US 20070257815A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,373 Days
• Field of Search: 340/576.439, 434 62- 71, 348/148, 709/217, 709/219, 701/29, 701/32
• US Class Current: 340/576
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/16 Anti-collision systems road vehicle drive control systems for predicting or avoiding probable or impending collision otherwise than by control of a particular sub-unit B60W30/08
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles

Abstract

Systems and methods for taking risk out of driving are presented. The system comprises an event capture device that records audio, video, and other information that collectively comprise an event. The event data, including the audio, video, and other related information, is provided to an evaluation server where it is stored in a database of events. Driving events can be analyzed singularly or collectively to provide counseling of fleet drivers, reconstruction and forensic analysis of automobile accidents, and driver and/or vehicle scores/ratings.

Claims

1. A method for reducing risk in driving, comprising:

capturing a driving event at an event detector coupled with a vehicle, the driving event comprising profile information including an identifier that identifies the driver of the vehicle during the driving event, said captured driving event further comprising video data recorded of the inside of the vehicle and of the outside of the vehicle;

providing the driving event to an evaluation server;

storing the driving event in a database managed by the evaluation server;

associating the driving event with a driver record stored in said database, wherein the driver record comprises the identifier that identifies the driver;

analyzing the driving event to calculate a driving event score;

associating the driving event score with said driver record in the database;

creating a driver counseling session based on the driving event;

associating the driver counseling session with said driver record in the database; and

combining a plurality of driving event scores associated with a driver identifier to generate a driver score.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the driving event further comprises audio data.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the video data is captured from two or more event capture devices communicatively coupled with the event detector.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the driving event further comprises metadata.

5. A method for reducing risk in driving, comprising:

capturing a driving event at an event detector coupled with a vehicle, the driving event comprising audio data, video data of the inside of the vehicle and the outside of the vehicle, and metadata collected before, during, and after the event;

providing the driving event to an evaluation server;

storing the driving event in a database managed by the evaluation server;

analyzing the driving event to identify an initial likely cause of the event;

comparing the driving event to a plurality of other driving events to identify a refined likely cause of the event; and

reviewing the initial likely cause of the event and the refined likely cause of the event to identify a probably cause of the event.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the data comprising the driving event is captured from two or more event capture devices communicatively coupled with the event detector.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the driving event is provided to the evaluation server via a data network.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the data network is a wired network.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the data network is a wireless network.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the data network is a combination wired and wireless network.

11. The method of claim 5, wherein the driving event is provided to the evaluation server via a direct communication link.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the direct communication link is wired link.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the direct communication link is wireless link.

14. A method for reducing risk in driving, comprising:

identifying an individual driver;

obtaining a plurality of driving events for the individual driver, the driving events obtained from a data storage area comprising a plurality of driving events for a plurality of drivers, said driving events including recorded video data of the inside of the vehicle and the outside of the vehicle prior to during and after the driving event;

analyzing the plurality of driving events for the individual driver;

analyzing demographic data for the individual driver, said demographic data obtained from a data storage area comprising a plurality of driver records, said records comprising demographic data; and

scoring the individual driver based on the analysis of the plurality of driving events and the analysis of the demographic data.

15. A system for reducing risk in driving, comprising:

an event detector coupled with a vehicle, the event detector configured to capture a driving event in response to a trigger, the driving event comprising profile information including an identifier that identifies the driver of the vehicle during the driving event said driving event further including recorded video data of the inside of the vehicle and the outside of the vehicle;

a communication link configured to convey the driving event from the event detector to an evaluation server;

an evaluation server comprising a plurality of analysis modules, each analysis module configured to analyze a plurality of driving events and provide responsive analysis information; and

a data storage area coupled with the evaluation server, the data storage area configured to store driving events, scoring criteria, coaching sessions, individual driver data, individual vehicle data, correlation data, risk factor data, accident analysis data, driver scoring data, and vehicle scoring data.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the communication link is a wired network.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the wired network comprises a private network.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the wired network comprises a public network.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the communication link is a wireless network.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the wireless network comprises a ZigBee link.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the wireless network comprises a Bluetooth link.

22. The system of claim 15, wherein the plurality of analysis modules comprises a foresight module configured to analyze driving event data and create a coaching session comprising information related to reducing risky driving behavior.

23. The system of claim 15, wherein the plurality of analysis modules comprises a hindsight module configured to analyze driving event data related to a vehicle accident and create a forensic analysis comprising information related to a cause of the vehicle accident.

24. The system of claim 15, wherein the plurality of analysis modules comprises an insight module configured to analyze driving event data and create an individual driver score based upon historical driving event data for an individual driver.