Method for Providing Information to First Responders of Vehicle Accidents

• US 20150097703A1
• Filed: 10/09/2013
• Published: 04/09/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/09/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG
• Original Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG
• Inventors: BAUR, Peter
• Granted Patent: US 9,064,412 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/902
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/09626 where the origin of the information is within the own vehicle, e.g. a local storage device, digital map
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096791 where the origin of the information is another vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/205 Indicating the location of the monitored vehicles as destination, e.g. accidents, stolen, rental
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/207 with respect to certain areas, e.g. forbidden or allowed areas with possible alerting when inside or outside boundaries

Abstract

Vehicle-specific and/or accident-specific information is provided, by a backend server, to the user of the first responder application executing on a mobile device. The application is configured to provide the mobile device'"'"'s current location to the backend server, so that nearby vehicles involved in accidents may be identified to the user of the application. The application may further be configured to receive a user selection of a particular accident from the list of accidents provided by the backend server and, in response thereto, provide vehicle-specific and/or accident-specific information for display on the mobile device.

Claims

1. A method for providing information to first responders of vehicle accidents, the method comprising the acts of:

transmitting, by the mobile device, location information to one or more backend servers over a wireless network connection in response to receiving a location-based accident information request from a user via a user input;

receiving, by the mobile device from the one or more backend servers over the wireless network connection, a list of accidents identified as being in proximity to the mobile device;

displaying at least one accident indication for a corresponding at least one accident from the received list of accidents identified as being in proximity to the mobile device;

receiving, by the mobile device from the user, a selection of an accident of interest from the displayed at least one accident indication;

requesting, by the mobile device and in response to the selection of the accident of interest, information corresponding to the accident of interest; and

displaying, by the mobile device, at least one of vehicle-specific and accident-specific information corresponding to the accident of interest.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting location information comprises transmitting, by the mobile device, a current GPS location of the mobile device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the list of accidents comprises receiving, by the mobile device from the one or more backend servers over the wireless network connection, the list of accidents, wherein the list of accidents comprises accidents identified as being within a predetermined area around a current location of the mobile device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the list of accidents comprises accidents involving vehicles equipped with an automatic crash notification system that is in communication with the one or more backend servers.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the at least one accident indication further comprises displaying at least one accident icon on a graphical map on a display of the mobile device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle-specific information comprises at least one of vehicle type, vehicle engine type, fuel level, airbag configuration, location of batteries, high voltage wires, location of bodywork reinforcements, recommended cut locations for roof removal, location of door hinges and door locks and vehicle-special instructions.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the accident-specific information comprises at least one of a likelihood of severe injury, a crash type, area of impact, angle of impact, number of occupants, and seat position of occupants.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the mobile device, a non-location-based vehicle search request and one or more vehicle search parameters from the user via the user input;

identifying, by the mobile device, a vehicle type based on said one or more vehicle search parameters; and

displaying, by the mobile device, vehicle-specific rescue information.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the one or more vehicle search parameters comprises one of a vehicle identification number and vehicle image data.

10. A mobile device configured to provide information to first responders of vehicle accidents, the mobile device comprising:

a display screen;

a wireless communication interface;

one or more processors electrically coupled to the display screen and the wireless communication interface; and

a memory containing one or more programs configured for execution by the one or more processors, wherein the one or more programs include processor-executable instructions for;

transmitting location information to one or more backend servers over a wireless network connection via the wireless communication interface in response to receiving a location-based accident information request from a user;

receiving, from the one or more backend servers over the wireless network connection, a list of accidents identified as being in proximity to the mobile device;

displaying, on the display screen, at least one accident indication for a corresponding at least one accident from the received list of accidents identified as being in proximity to the mobile device;

receiving, from the user, a selection of an accident of interest from the displayed at least one accident indication;

requesting, from the one or more backend servers and in response to the selection of the accident of interest, information corresponding to the accident of interest; and

displaying, on the display screen, at least one of vehicle-specific and accident-specific information corresponding to the accident of interest.

11. The mobile device of claim 10, wherein the location information comprises a current GPS location of the mobile device.

12. The mobile device of claim 10, wherein the list of accidents comprises accidents identified as being within a predetermined area around a current location of the mobile device.

13. The mobile device of claim 10, wherein the list of accidents comprises accidents involving vehicles equipped with an automatic crash notification system that is in communication with the one or more backend servers.

14. The mobile device of claim 10, wherein the at least one accident indication comprises at least one accident icon on a graphical map displayed on the display screen.

15. The mobile device of claim 10, wherein the vehicle-specific information comprises at least one of vehicle type, vehicle engine type, fuel level, airbag configuration, location of batteries, high voltage wires, location of bodywork reinforcements, recommended cut locations for roof removal, location of door hinges and door locks and vehicle-special instructions.

16. The mobile device of claim 10, wherein the accident-specific information comprises at least one of a likelihood of severe injury, a crash type, area of impact, angle of impact, number of occupants, and seat position of occupants.

17. The mobile device of claim 10, wherein the one or more programs further include processor-executable instructions for:

receiving a non-location-based vehicle search request and one or more vehicle search parameters from the user,

identifying a vehicle type based on said one or more vehicle search parameters, and

displaying vehicle-specific rescue information on the display screen.

18. The mobile device of claim 17, wherein the one or more vehicle search parameters comprises one of a vehicle identification number and vehicle image data.