Method and apparatus for determining and storing excessive vehicle speed

• US 8,731,770 B2
• Filed: 03/08/2006
• Issued: 05/20/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/08/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Octo Advisory Inc.
• Original Assignee: Speed Demon Inc.
• Inventors: Fischer, Jonathan
• Primary Examiner(s): Holwerda, Stephen
• Application Number:
  US11/370,651
• Publication Number:
  US 20070213896A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,995 Days
• Field of Search: 701/35, 701/29, 701/1, 701/29.1, 701/33.2, 701/33.4, 701/36, 701/70, 701/93, 701/400, 701/408, 701/409, 701/430, 701/461, 701/463, 340/438, 340/439
• US Class Current: 701/33.4
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 1/122 Speed recorders
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 1/14 for permanent recording G01P1/125 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/085 using electronic data carriers
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0962 having an indicator mounted inside the vehicle, e.g. giving voice messages

Abstract

The present invention is a data logger for collecting information about operation of vehicle for monitoring by a parent or supervisor. The data logger includes speed limits for highway and local streets. The data logger includes an algorithm estimating whether the vehicle is being operated on a highway or local street. An alert status is determined when the corresponding speed limit is exceeded. Alert information is recorded for later display and review by the parent or supervisor.

Claims

1. In a driving environment having highways and local streets, and having a speed limit corresponding to each of the road types of highways and local streets, a processor based method of determining vehicular adherence to the speed limits comprising:

receiving, from a user interface of a processor controlled device, a user settable selection for a speed limit for each of road types of highways and local streets, the user selected speed limit independent of a legal speed limit set by a relevant governing authority;

computing, by the processor, adherence to the speed limits by;

receiving a measurement of a current speed of a vehicle;

identifying that a current speed exceeds the received speed limit corresponding to a road type of local road;

determining, if within a predetermined time, the current speed drops below the exceeded speed limit;

determining a road type of a current location as one of a highway or a local street, determining further comprising;

concluding, if the current speed drops below the exceeded speed limit within the predetermined time, that the vehicle was speeding on a local street;

concluding, if the current speed remains above the exceeded speed limit for the predetermined time, that the vehicle was traveling on a highway and was not speeding; and

concluding, if the current speed exceeds the speed limit corresponding to a road type of highway, that the vehicle was speeding.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining, based on a computed duration of travel above the exceeded speed limit, the road type currently being traveled.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving, by the processor, the current speed from a vehicle speedometer subsystem independently of an external GPS location signal.

4. A method for determining safe driving comprising:

Identifying, in a processor device having stored information on a plurality of road types and determining, for each of the plurality of road types, a speed limit, the plurality of speed limits defining a range of speeds for a continuum of road types of increasing allowable speed;

receiving a measurement of a current speed of a vehicle;

identifying that a current speed exceeds the speed limits corresponding to a particular type of road;

determining, a duration of travel during which current speed remains above the exceeded speed limit; and

determining, based on the duration of travel above the exceeded speed limit, the road type currently being traveled;

concluding, based on the duration of travel above the exceeded speed, whether the vehicle was speeding; and

concluding, if the current speed falls below the exceeded speed limit before expiration of a predetermined time, that the vehicle was speeding and was traveling on the road type corresponding to the next lower speed limit on the continuum of road types from the road type corresponding to the exceeded speed.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising concluding, by the processor, if the predetermined time expires without the current speed falling below the identified speed limit, that the vehicle is traveling on the road type corresponding to the greater speed limit.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein the speed limits are independent of a legal speed limit established by a relevant governing authority.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising receiving, from a graphical user interface of a user device responsive to the processor, the speed limits corresponding to each of the road types.

8. The method of claim 6 further comprising, receiving, from a user device interface to the processor, a plurality of selections of road type and corresponding applicable speed limits for each selected road type.

9. The method of claim 6 wherein the road type includes highways and local street.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the road types are based on road conditions of the road being traveled.

11. The method of claim 4 wherein a duration of travel less than the predetermined time is deemed to establish speeding on the road type corresponding to the next lowest speed limit.

12. A computer program product encoded as instructions on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, the instructions for method of determining safe vehicle driving practices comprising:

launching an application on a personal device located appurtenant to the driver of a vehicle;

receiving a user settable selection for a speed limit for each of road types of highways and local streets, the user selected speed limit independent of a legal speed limit set by a relevant governing authority;

receiving a measurement of a current speed of the vehicle;

identifying that a current speed exceeds the received speed limit corresponding to a road type of local road;

determining, if within a predetermined time, the current speed drops below the exceeded speed limit;

determining, based on at least one of the expiration of the predetermined time or the vehicle speed falling below the exceeded speed limit, a road type of a current vehicle location as one of a highway or a local street; and

concluding either that;

if the speed fell below the exceeded speed limit before expiration of the predetermined time, then the vehicle was speeding on a local street, or

when the predetermined time expires before the speed falls below the exceeded speed limit then the vehicle was traveling an accepted speed limit on a highway.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising Identifying the threshold speed for the local street speed limit distinguishing highways from local streets, the threshold speed received from a user and pertaining to a speed limit on a particular type of road.

14. The method of claim 12 further comprising identifying a threshold time limit, the threshold time limit corresponding to a duration of travel at an elevated speed limit deemed to establish travel on a road type applicable to the elevated speed limit.