Methods of theft prevention or mitigation

• US 9,783,159 B1
• Filed: 07/14/2015
• Issued: 10/10/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
• Original Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
• Inventors: Potter, Thomas Michael, Clauss, Mark E., Carter, Dustin Ryan, Graff, Douglas Albert, Baumann, Megan Michal, Bonnom, Atlanta, Cope, Craig, Lawyer, Jennifer Luella, Simpson, Curtis, Baumann, Nathan W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Blount, Eric M
• Application Number:
  US14/798,769
• Time in Patent Office: 819 Days
• Field of Search: 3404261, 34042611
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/04 operating on the propulsion system, e.g. engine or drive motor
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/102 a signal being sent to a remote location, e.g. a radio signal being transmitted to a police station, a security company or the owner
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2030/082 Vehicle operation after collision
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/08 related to drivers or passengers
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/09 Driving style or behaviour
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/02 Alarms for ensuring the safety of persons
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/00 Alarm systems in which the location of the alarm condition is signalled to a central station, e.g. fire or police telegraphic systems

Abstract

In system and methods for theft prevention or mitigation, driver-related data associated with one or more authorized drivers of an insured vehicle may be collected over time. The authorized drivers and the insured vehicle may be covered by an insurance policy issued by an insurance provider. Based upon the collected driver-related data, a database associated with the authorized drivers may be built. Current driver-related data associated with an individual currently driving, attempting to start, or sitting in a seat of the insured vehicle may be collected. It may be determined, using both the database and the current driver-related data, that the individual is not among the authorized drivers. A disablement of an operation of the insured vehicle may be caused, and/or the individual may be caused to be prevented from starting or otherwise operating the insured vehicle, to facilitate preventing or mitigating theft of the insured vehicle.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of vehicle theft prevention or mitigation, the method comprising:

collecting, by one or more processors of (i) a vehicle controller or (ii) one or more remote servers associated with an insurance provider, driver-related data over time, the driver-related data being associated with one or more authorized drivers of an insured vehicle, and the authorized drivers and the insured vehicle being covered by an insurance policy issued by the insurance provider;

building, by the one or more processors, and based upon the collected driver-related data, a database associated with the authorized drivers covered by the insurance policy;

collecting, by the one or more processors, current driver-related data associated with an individual currently driving, attempting to start, or sitting in a seat of the insured vehicle;

determining, by the one or more processors, a current driving behavior pattern indicating a pattern of behavior by the individual in controlling the insured vehicle based upon the collected driver-related data;

determining, by the one or more processors by comparing the current driving behavior pattern with one or more driving patterns in the database, that the individual currently driving, attempting to start, or sitting in a seat of the insured vehicle is not among the authorized drivers covered by the insurance policy;

verifying, by the one or more processors and the current driver-related data, that the individual currently driving, attempting to start, or sitting in a seat of the insured vehicle is sitting in a driver seat of the insured vehicle by (i) identifying a signal from a mobile device associated with the individual, (ii) determining a location of the mobile device by triangulation using the signal, and (iii) determining the location of the mobile device is associated with the driver seat; and

causing, by the one or more processors and based upon determining that the individual is not among the authorized drivers and is sitting in the driver seat, one or both of (i) a disablement of an operation of the insured vehicle, and (ii) the individual to be prevented from starting or otherwise operating the insured vehicle, to facilitate preventing or mitigating theft of the insured vehicle.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining that the individual currently driving, attempting to start, or sitting in a seat of the insured vehicle is not among the authorized drivers covered by the insurance policy further includes:

comparing electronic signatures or signals of mobile devices of the authorized drivers with an unknown electronic signature or signal of the mobile device associated with the individual currently driving, attempting to start, or sitting in a seat of the insured vehicle.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining that the individual currently driving, attempting to start, or sitting in a seat of the insured vehicle is not among the authorized drivers covered by the insurance policy further includes:

comparing electronic signatures or signals of various mobile devices.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining that the individual currently driving, attempting to start, or sitting in a seat of the insured vehicle is not among the authorized drivers covered by the insurance policy further includes:

comparing visual images or weights of the authorized drivers with a visual image or a weight, respectively, of the individual currently driving, attempting to start, or sitting in a seat of the insured vehicle.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein collecting the driver-related data includes collecting data associated with, or generated by, one or more mobile devices.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein collecting the driver-related data includes collecting data associated with, or generated by, the insured vehicle or a computer system of the insured vehicle.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein collecting the driver-related data includes collecting data associated with, or generated by, one or more of (i) a vehicle other than the insured vehicle;

(ii) vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication;

or (iii) roadside equipment or infrastructure.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

when it is determined that the individual currently driving, attempting to start, or sitting in a seat of the insured vehicle is not among the authorized drivers, generating a message and transmitting the message to a mobile device of one of the authorized drivers, or to authorities, to facilitate vehicle recapture or safety.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, the method further comprising one or both of:

tracking a GPS location of the insured vehicle; and

transmitting a present GPS location of the insured vehicle to a mobile device of one of the authorized drivers or to a third party remote server.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein:

the method comprises causing a disablement of an operation of the insured vehicle; and

causing a disablement of an operation of the insured vehicle includes slowing down the vehicle to a halt.

11. A system for vehicle theft prevention or mitigation, the system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more memories storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to

collect driver-related data over time, the driver-related data being associated with one or more authorized drivers of an insured vehicle, and the authorized drivers and the insured vehicle being covered by an insurance policy issued by an insurance provider,

build, based upon the collected driver-related data, a database associated with the authorized drivers covered by the insurance policy,

collect current driver-related data associated with an individual currently driving, attempting to start, or sitting in a seat of the insured vehicle,

determine a current driving behavior pattern indicating a pattern of behavior by the individual in controlling the insured vehicle based upon the collected driver-related data,

determine, by comparing the current driving behavior pattern with one or more driving patterns in the database, whether the individual currently driving, attempting to start, or sitting in a seat of the insured vehicle is among the authorized drivers covered by the insurance policy,

verify that the individual currently driving, attempting to start, or sitting in a seat of the insured vehicle is sitting in a driver seat of the insured vehicle by (i) identifying a signal from a mobile device associated with the individual, (ii) determining a location of the mobile device by triangulation using the signal, and (iii) determining the location of the mobile device is associated with the driver seat; and

when determining that the individual is not among the authorized drivers covered by the insurance policy and is sitting in the driver seat, cause one or both of (i) a disablement of an operation of the insured vehicle, and (ii) the individual to be prevented from starting or otherwise operating the insured vehicle, to facilitate preventing or mitigating theft of the insured vehicle.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the instructions further cause the one or more processors to determine whether the individual currently driving, attempting to start, or sitting in a seat of the insured vehicle is among the authorized drivers covered by the insurance policy at least by:

comparing electronic signatures or signals of mobile devices of the authorized drivers with an unknown electronic signature or signal of the mobile device associated with the individual currently driving, attempting to start, or sitting in a seat of the insured vehicle.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to verify that the individual is sitting in the driver seat of the insured vehicle by comparing visual images or weights of the authorized drivers with a visual image or a weight, respectively, of the individual currently driving, attempting to start, or sitting in a seat of the insured vehicle.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the driver-related data includes data associated with, or generated by, one or more mobile devices.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the driver-related data includes data associated with, or generated by, one or more of (i) the insured vehicle or a computer system of the insured vehicle;

(ii) a vehicle other than the insured vehicle;

(iii) vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication;

or (iv) roadside equipment or infrastructure.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the instructions further cause the one or more processors to:

when it is determined that the individual currently driving, attempting to start, or sitting in a seat of the insured vehicle is not among the authorized drivers, generate a message and transmit the message to a mobile device of one of the authorized drivers, or to authorities, to facilitate vehicle recapture or safety.

17. A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for vehicle theft prevention or mitigation that, when executed by one or more processors of a computer system, cause the computer system to:

collect driver-related data over time, the driver-related data being associated with one or more authorized drivers of an insured vehicle, and the authorized drivers and the insured vehicle being covered by an insurance policy issued by an insurance provider;

build a database associated with the authorized drivers covered by the insurance policy based upon the collected driver-related data;

collect current driver-related data associated with an individual currently driving, attempting to start, or sitting in a seat of the insured vehicle;

determine a current driving behavior pattern indicating a pattern of behavior by the individual in controlling the insured vehicle based upon the collected driver-related data;

determine, by comparing the current driving behavior pattern with one or more driving patterns in the database, that the individual currently driving, attempting to start, or sitting in a seat of the insured vehicle is not among the authorized drivers covered by the insurance policy;

verify that the individual currently driving, attempting to start, or sitting in a seat of the insured vehicle is sitting in a driver seat of the insured vehicle by (i) identifying a signal from a mobile device associated with the individual, (ii) determining a location of the mobile device by triangulation using the signal, and (iii) determining the location of the mobile device is associated with the driver seat; and

cause, based upon determining that the individual is not among the authorized drivers and is sitting in the driver seat, one or both of (i) a disablement of an operation of the insured vehicle, and (ii) the individual to be prevented from starting or otherwise operating the insured vehicle, to facilitate preventing or mitigating theft of the insured vehicle.

18. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the executable instructions further cause the computer system to verify that the individual is sitting in the driver seat of the insured vehicle by comparing visual images or weights of the authorized drivers with a visual image or a weight, respectively, of the individual currently driving, attempting to start, or sitting in a seat of the insured vehicle.

19. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the driver-related data includes data associated with, or generated by, one or more of (i) the insured vehicle or a computer system of the insured vehicle;

(ii) a vehicle other than the insured vehicle;

(iii) vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication;

or (iv) roadside equipment or infrastructure.

20. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, further storing instructions that cause the computer system to:

when it is determined that the individual currently driving, attempting to start, or sitting in a seat of the insured vehicle is not among the authorized drivers, generate a message and transmit the message to a mobile device of one of the authorized drivers, or to authorities, to facilitate vehicle recapture or safety.