Computerized method and system of assessing liability for an accident using impact groups

• US 7,742,936 B2
• Filed: 10/02/2001
• Issued: 06/22/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/02/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Computer Sciences Corporation (DXC Technology Company)
• Original Assignee: Computer Sciences Corporation (DXC Technology Company)
• Inventors: Wahlbin, Stefan, Johnston, Tim
• Primary Examiner(s): Gilligan; C. Luke
• Assistant Examiner(s): Gottschalk; Martin A
• Application Number:
  US09/969,022
• Publication Number:
  US 20020062233A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,185 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1, 705/4, 701/35
• US Class Current: 705/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation

Abstract

Methods and systems are provided for estimating liability in an accident. In one embodiment, liability estimation in a vehicle accident may be based on a plurality of characteristics that describe the accident. These characteristics may include: the configuration of the roadway, the type of accident, right of way, and impact points of each vehicle. In an embodiment, impact points may be grouped into impact groups. A base liability may be assigned to each impact group. The characteristics from an actual accident may be compared to those in a past or theoretical accident. Liability may be estimated from a preassigned liability associated with a nearest matching past or theoretical accident. The liability estimate may include a base liability and one or more adjustments due to various factors.

Claims

1. A method of estimating liability for a vehicle accident, comprising:

providing to a computer system a real set of characteristics for a real vehicle accident;

wherein the computer system is configured to access a memory, wherein the memory comprises sets of characteristics for past or theoretical accidents, wherein the sets of characteristics for the past or theoretical accidents comprise two or more impact groups for the past or theoretical accidents, wherein the impact groups comprise pairs of impact points, wherein, for each of at least one of the pairs in the two or more impact groups, one impact point of the pair is an impact point for a first vehicle in a past or theoretical vehicle accident and the other impact point of the pair is an impact point for a second vehicle in the past or theoretical vehicle accident,

wherein each of at least two of the impact groups for the past or theoretical vehicle accidents is associated with a roadway configuration/accident type combination, wherein the accident type specifies a relationship between two or more vehicles'"'"' paths on a roadway at the time of a vehicle accident, wherein the roadway configuration/accident type combination associated with at least one of the impact groups for the past or theoretical vehicle accidents is different from the roadway configuration/accident type combination for at least one other of the impact groups for the past or theoretical vehicle accidents,

wherein each of at least two of the impact groups for the past or theoretical accidents is associated with a base liability;

comparing the real set of characteristics for the real vehicle accident to the sets of characteristics for the past or theoretical vehicle accidents to determine a nearest matching set of characteristics among the sets of characteristics for the past or theoretical accidents, wherein comparing the real set of characteristics for the real vehicle accident to the sets of characteristics for the past or theoretical vehicle accidents comprises;

specifying a roadway configuration for the real vehicle accident;

specifying an accident type for the real vehicle accident, wherein the accident type for the real vehicle accident specifies a relationship between two or more vehicles'"'"' paths on a roadway at the time of the real vehicle accident;

specifying a pair of impact points for the real vehicle accident, wherein one of the impact points of the pair is an impact point for a first vehicle in the real vehicle accident and the other impact point of the pair is an impact point for a second vehicle in the real vehicle accident; and

the computer system searching, from within a first database table having the impact groups for the past or theoretical accidents, for an impact group corresponding to the roadway configuration/accident type combination specified for the real vehicle accident that includes the pair of impact points specified for the real vehicle accident; and

determining an estimate of liability for the real vehicle accident based on the estimate of the base liability associated with at least one impact group of the nearest matching set of characteristics, wherein determining the estimate of liability for the real vehicle accident based on the estimate of the base liability associated with the at least one impact group of the nearest matching set of characteristics comprises the computer system extracting, from a second database table, a base liability associated with the impact group for the past or theoretical accidents that corresponds to the roadway configuration/accident type combination specified for the real vehicle accident that includes the pair of impact points specified for the real vehicle accident.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the base liability associated with the at least one impact group for the past or theoretical accidents is estimated by one or more expert claims adjusters through a knowledge acquisition process.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the sets of characteristics for the past or theoretical accidents further comprise a roadway configuration.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the roadway configuration is selected from the group consisting of a two or more lane road, a divided road with a median that can be crossed, a four-way intersection, a T-angle intersection, a merging of one roadway into another, a curve, a parking lot with two-way traffic, a parking lot with one way traffic, a center turn lane, and a two or more lane road divided by a physical barrier.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the sets of characteristics for the past or theoretical accidents further comprise an accident type.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the accident type is selected from the group consisting of a rear ender, a left turn crossing traffic, a left turn across traffic, a left turn entering traffic, a right turn entering traffic, dual turns to same lane, concurrent left turns, a U-turn, a parked vehicle merging into traffic from right, a parked vehicle merging into traffic from left, a merge from left, a merge from right, concurrent merges to a single lane, a collision with a parked vehicle, a collision while backing, a head on, and a straight cross traffic collision.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the sets of characteristics for the past or theoretical accidents further comprise a right of way.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the sets of characteristics for the past or theoretical accidents further comprise a roadway configuration and an accident type.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the roadway configuration is selected from the group consisting of a two or more lane road, a divided road with a median that can be crossed, a four-way intersection, a T-angle intersection, a merging of one roadway into another, a curve, a parking lot with two-way traffic, a parking lot with one way traffic, a center turn lane, and a two or more lane road divided by a physical barrier.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the sets of characteristics for the past or theoretical accidents further comprise a roadway configuration and a right of way.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the sets of characteristics for the past or theoretical accidents further comprise an accident type and a right of way.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the sets of characteristics for the past or theoretical accidents further comprise a roadway configuration, an accident type, and a right of way.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the base liability associated with at least one of the impact groups for the past or theoretical accidents comprises a lower bound of liability and an upper bound of liability.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining which of at least two vehicles in the real vehicle accident had the right of way.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining which of at least two vehicles in the real vehicle accident had the right of way, wherein the base liability associated with at least one of the impact groups comprises at least a first value for base liability corresponding to the first vehicle having the right of way in the vehicle accident and at least a second value for base liability corresponding to the second vehicle having the right of way in the vehicle accident.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining which of at least two vehicles in the real vehicle accident had the right of way, wherein the base liability associated with at least one of the impact groups comprises a first set of values for base liability corresponding to the first vehicle having the right of way in the vehicle accident and a second set of values for base liability corresponding to the second vehicle having the right of way in the vehicle accident, wherein at least one of the sets of values comprises a base liability and upper and lower bound of liability.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the estimate of liability for the real vehicle accident comprises determining plausibility of two or more accident type/roadway configurations and storing the results of the plausibility determinations.

18. A system for estimating liability, comprising:

a CPU;

a data memory coupled to the CPU; and

a system memory coupled to the CPU, wherein the system memory is configured to store one or more computer programs executable by the CPU, and wherein the computer programs are executable to implement a method for estimating liability, the method comprising;

providing a real set of characteristics for a real vehicle accident;

wherein the data memory comprises sets of characteristics for past or theoretical accidents, wherein the sets of characteristics for the past or theoretical accidents comprise two or more impact groups for the past or theoretical accidents, wherein the impact groups comprise pairs of impact points, wherein, for each of at least one of the pairs in the two or more impact groups, one impact point of the pair is an impact point for a first vehicle in a past or theoretical vehicle accident and the other impact point of the pair is an impact point for a second vehicle in the past or theoretical vehicle accident,

wherein each of at least two of the impact groups for the past or theoretical vehicle accidents is associated with a roadway configuration/accident type combination, wherein the accident type specifies a relationship between two or more vehicles'"'"' paths on a roadway at the time of a vehicle accident, wherein the roadway configuration/accident type combination associated with at least one of the impact groups for the past or theoretical vehicle accidents is different from the roadway configuration/accident type combination for at least one other of the impact groups for the past or theoretical vehicle accidents,

wherein each of at least two of the impact groups for the past or theoretical accidents is associated with a base liability;

comparing the real set of characteristics for the real vehicle accident to the sets of characteristics for the past or theoretical vehicle accidents to determine a nearest matching set of characteristics among the sets of characteristics for the past or theoretical accidents, wherein comparing the real set of characteristics for the real vehicle accident to the sets of characteristics for the past or theoretical vehicle accidents comprises;

specifying a roadway configuration for the real vehicle accident;

specifying an accident type for the real vehicle accident, wherein the accident type for the real vehicle accident specifies a relationship between two or more vehicles'"'"' paths on a roadway at the time of the real vehicle accident;

specifying a pair of impact points for the real vehicle accident, wherein one of the impact points of the pair is an impact point for a first vehicle in the real vehicle accident and the other impact point of the pair is an impact point for a second vehicle in the real vehicle accident; and

the computer system searching, from within a first database table having the impact groups for the past or theoretical accidents, for an impact group corresponding to the roadway configuration/accident type combination specified for the real vehicle accident that includes the pair of impact points specified for the real vehicle accident; and

determining an estimate of liability for the real vehicle accident based on the estimate of the base liability associated with at least one impact group of the nearest matching set of characteristics, wherein determining the estimate of liability for the real vehicle accident based on the estimate of the base liability associated with the at least one impact group of the nearest matching set of characteristics comprises the computer system extracting, from a second database table, a base liability associated with the impact group for the past or theoretical accidents that corresponds to the roadway configuration/accident type combination specified for the real vehicle accident that includes the pair of impact points specified for the real vehicle accident.

19. A computer readable storage medium comprising program instructions stored thereon, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to implement a method of estimating liability for a vehicle accident, the method comprising:

providing to a computer system a real set of characteristics for a real vehicle accident;

wherein the computer system is configured to access a memory, wherein the memory comprises sets of characteristics for past or theoretical accidents, wherein the sets of characteristics for the past or theoretical accidents comprise two or more impact groups for the past or theoretical accidents, wherein the impact groups comprise pairs of impact points, wherein, for each of at least one of the pairs in the two or more impact groups, one impact point of the pair is an impact point for a first vehicle in a past or theoretical vehicle accident and the other impact point of the pair is an impact point for a second vehicle in the past or theoretical vehicle accident,

wherein each of at least two of the impact groups for the past or theoretical vehicle accidents is associated with a roadway configuration/accident type combination, wherein the accident type specifies a relationship between two or more vehicles'"'"' paths on a roadway at the time of a vehicle accident, wherein the roadway configuration/accident type combination associated with at least one of the impact groups for the past or theoretical vehicle accidents is different from the roadway configuration/accident type combination for at least one other of the impact groups for the past or theoretical vehicle accidents,

wherein each of at least two of the impact groups for the past or theoretical accidents is associated with a base liability;

comparing the real set of characteristics for the real vehicle accident to the sets of characteristics for the past or theoretical vehicle accidents to determine a nearest matching set of characteristics among the sets of characteristics for the past or theoretical accidents, wherein comparing the real set of characteristics for the real vehicle accident to the sets of characteristics for the past or theoretical vehicle accidents comprises;

specifying a roadway configuration for the real vehicle accident;

specifying an accident type for the real vehicle accident, wherein the accident type for the real vehicle accident specifies a relationship between two or more vehicles'"'"' paths on a roadway at the time of the real vehicle accident;

specifying a pair of impact points for the real vehicle accident, wherein one of the impact points of the pair is an impact point for a first vehicle in the real vehicle accident and the other impact point of the pair is an impact point for a second vehicle in the real vehicle accident; and

the computer system searching, from within a first database table having the impact groups for the past or theoretical accidents, for an impact group corresponding to the roadway configuration/accident type combination specified for the real vehicle accident that includes the pair of impact points specified for the real vehicle accident; and

determining an estimate of liability for the real vehicle accident based on the estimate of the base liability associated with at least one impact group of the nearest matching set of characteristics, wherein determining the estimate of liability for the real vehicle accident based on the estimate of the base liability associated with the at least one impact group of the nearest matching set of characteristics comprises the computer system extracting, from a second database table, a base liability associated with the impact group for the past or theoretical accidents that corresponds to the roadway configuration/accident type combination specified for the real vehicle accident that includes the pair of impact points specified for the real vehicle accident.