Vehicle Digital Warning System

Abstract

A microprocessor within the vehicle receives an indication of a hazardous event associated with the vehicle and transmits the indication to a safety alert system that can forward the alert to additional vehicles based on several factors.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 401,484, filed August 26, 2022, which provisional application is incorporated by reference into this application as if fully set forth at this time.

[0002]

[0002] This disclosure relates generally to communication of emergency conditions to vehicles, and more particularly to automated electronic communication of emergencies, dangers, and other events between vehicles or between vehicles and other receivers. [Background technology]

[0003]

[0003] Systems exist that provide an augmented image communication system for vehicles in distress, breakdown, or emergency situations. The augmented image communication system may also be deployed when a vehicle deploys airbags or activates traction control, ABS, or similar automatic safety systems. The augmented image communication system may rely on increasing the flash rate (e.g., flash) of the vehicle's signal lights or other lights, which may include auxiliary lights or remote beacons. Various flash patterns may be utilized in a manner designed to attract or communicate attention more efficiently than the older, slower standard hazard light systems. Examples of such augmented image communication systems utilizing vehicle signal lights are described in U.S. Patent No. 9,481,331 to Tucker et al. and U.S. Patent No. 9,616,810 to Tucker et al.

[0004]

[0004] Augmented visual communication systems that rely on strobe lights or other visual enhancements work well to notify other drivers in the vicinity of a distressed vehicle that a warning should be issued, but they are necessarily limited in their ability to notify drivers who may be extremely far away, behind another vehicle, around a curve or bend in the road, or blocked by other obstacles. Augmented visual communication systems also remain dependent on at least some attention being paid by other drivers and their reaction time and ability to accurately assess the emergency or distress visual communication and respond appropriately.

[0005]

[0005] Furthermore, it remains up to the individual driver to know how or when to deploy their own safety systems, which may function to mitigate the chance of further distress events (e.g., collisions) or to properly notify other traffic around them. Drivers are sometimes observed activating their emergency lights when encountering another vehicle in distress or another emergency situation to preemptively warn drivers behind or nearby. While this is helpful, it is far from universal. Furthermore, the mere activation of hazard lights fails to provide information to a driver who is out of sight of the original event and does not know what has happened or how to react. For example, in some cases, it is appropriate to continue but requires increased attention (e.g., an animal on the road), and in other cases, the best response is to come to a complete stop (e.g., an overturned gasoline truck ahead).

[0006]

[0006] Partially or fully autonomous vehicles are already a reality and are expected to become commonplace. To operate safely on roads and highways, computer vision, radar, GPS, and other technologies are being deployed to enable autonomous vehicles to perceive their surroundings as well as possible. Statistically, autonomous vehicles may already be safer than human drivers. However, autonomous vehicles still must "see" or "hear" distress events of other vehicles on the road in much the same way as human drivers. While autonomous vehicles can "see" events that may indicate a warning or distress, they are limited by their field of view, other vehicles, obstacles, etc. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] What is needed is a system and method to address the above and related concerns. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In one aspect, the disclosed invention includes a system for communicating a warning to or from a passenger vehicle, the system including a microprocessor within the vehicle that receives an indication of a hazardous event associated with a first passenger vehicle and generates a warning in response thereto, and a transmitter used by the microprocessor to wirelessly forward the warning to a safety warning system that forwards the warning to one or more additional passenger vehicles determined to be within an approach zone to the location where the microprocessor received the indication of the hazardous event.

[0009] In some cases, the unsafe event includes an indication that the first passenger vehicle is not safely operable. In some cases, the unsafe event includes an indication of damage to the passenger vehicle. The indication of the unsafe event may come from a passenger vehicle safety system. The indication of the unsafe event may come from an occupant of the passenger vehicle.

[0010] The alert may include data corresponding to a position of the vehicle. The alert may include data corresponding to a heading of the vehicle.

[0011] Optionally, the microprocessor generates and transmits a further alert containing further information relating to the hazardous event to the safety alert system via a transmitter, which may be a radio frequency transmitter.

[0011]

[0012] In another aspect thereof, the invention of the present disclosure includes a method including providing a safety alert server in communication with a plurality of passenger vehicles; receiving, at the safety alert server, from a first passenger vehicle of the plurality of passenger vehicles, an indication that the first passenger vehicle has encountered a hazard and the location of the first passenger vehicle; obtaining, at the safety alert server, location and orientation information from at least some of the plurality of passenger vehicles other than the first passenger vehicle of the plurality of passenger vehicles; determining, at the safety alert server, whether any of at least some of the plurality of passenger vehicles other than the first passenger vehicle of the plurality of passenger vehicles is within a predetermined distance of the first passenger vehicle of the plurality of passenger vehicles and is heading toward the first passenger vehicle, and if so, transmitting an alert to such passenger vehicle of at least some of the plurality of passenger vehicles other than the first passenger vehicle of the plurality of passenger vehicles.

[0012]

[0013] The method may include delivering the alert over the internet and / or delivering the alert wirelessly. The method may include sending the alert from the safety alert server to a cloud computing platform and / or sending the alert from the safety alert server to an emergency response service.

[0013]

[0014] In some embodiments, the method further includes receiving, at the safety alert server, an indication of a hazard at the fixed location that is not emanating from the passenger vehicle, and determining whether any of at least some of the plurality of passenger vehicles are within a predetermined distance from and heading toward the fixed location, and if so, sending a notification to such passenger vehicle of at least some of the plurality of passenger vehicles.

[0014]

[0015] The method may further include obtaining, at the safety warning server, driving characteristic data from at least a subset of the plurality of passenger vehicles; determining, by the safety warning server, an estimated hazard location based on the received driving characteristic data; and transmitting, from the safety warning server, a warning to at least one of the plurality of passenger vehicles heading in the direction of the estimated hazard location.

[0015]

[0016] In another aspect, the presently disclosed invention includes a system including a first microprocessor in a first passenger vehicle and a safety alert system communicatively coupled to the first microprocessor, the first microprocessor providing location data regarding the vehicle to the safety alert system, and the safety alert system transmitting an inbound safety alert to the first microprocessor when the location data indicates that the first passenger vehicle is approaching a safety hazard.

[0016]

[0017] In some cases, the safety warning system is notified of a safety hazard by a communicatively coupled second passenger vehicle. The first microprocessor can issue a command to the vehicle to shut off driver assistance features and provide a notification to a driver of the vehicle when an inbound safety warning is received. The first microprocessor is communicatively coupled to the safety system of the first passenger vehicle and can send an outbound warning to the safety warning system in response to the indication of the vehicle safety hazard. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1]1 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle emergency communication system according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a communication link diagram of one embodiment of a vehicle emergency communication system, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a communication link diagram of another embodiment of an emergency communication system link diagram in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 illustrates potential relationships between operating and broken-down vehicles on a road network. [Figure 5] 1 is a flowchart corresponding to one method of operation of an emergency vehicle communication system according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a system level diagram of a vehicle notification system according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is an example diagram of a format for an outbound alert from a vehicle, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is an example diagram of a format for an inbound alert from an alert management system to a vehicle, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is an exemplary diagram of various communication links between systems of the present disclosure. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is an illustration of a geofenced alert distribution according to aspects of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0018]

[0028] According to the present disclosure, various systems and methods are provided that enable the digital transmission of alerts from vehicles or personal electronic devices associated with vehicles to other vehicles, drivers or passengers of such vehicles, personal electronic devices, autonomous vehicles and their passengers, emergency services, traffic tracking and control systems, and remote servers or cloud-based computing systems. For purposes of this disclosure, a remote server may be a known system or otherwise any computing device not present in the vehicle or personal electronic devices associated with the vehicle that can communicate with the vehicle by any known method. A server may include multiple redundant servers and cloud-based servers. A server and remote server may include a remote computing system that is not necessarily itself part of a cloud server suite. A cloud computing system may be a known system or otherwise a remote server or a distributed network of remote servers or computers that can receive and send communications to and from vehicles or personal electronic devices associated with the vehicle by any known method. Varying degrees of security may be implemented and may have some impact on the type and location of the server used.

[0019]

[0029] While an alert may simply correspond to information provided to or from the vehicle, occupants, or personal electronic devices, in accordance with this disclosure, an alert may indicate a road hazard, a disabled vehicle, or other event that would be beneficial if made known to the driver. For purposes of this disclosure, a driver should be understood to be a person (in the case of a traditional manually operated vehicle), but can also include any computer or control device that is partially or fully involved in operating the subject vehicle, regardless of whether such computer or device is considered a driver assistance feature (e.g., cruise control or lane keeping), a fully automated vehicle or system, or a system with capabilities between these examples.

[0020]

[0030] An alert may be considered, for example, an emergency alert, a broken-down vehicle alert, a road hazard alert, a road closure alert, a traffic alert, or another type of alert. Unless otherwise specified, an alert should be considered any notification of any useful information to or from a vehicle or a driver or passenger of the vehicle. The systems of the present disclosure may communicate information about the vehicle that generates or sends the alert, or other conditions or information. This information may, in some embodiments, be considered part of the alert. For purposes of this disclosure, alert, issuing an alert, sending an alert, and similar phrases should be interpreted to mean the communication of an alert.

[0021]

[0031] Some systems and methods according to the present disclosure provide communications or alerts where the originator and ultimate intended recipient of the alert are both vehicles (or people or devices associated therewith). Such systems may be referred to as vehicle-to-vehicle communication systems (e.g., V2V). In other embodiments, instead of or in addition to V2V functionality, a system or method may include communications or alerts between a vehicle and another system or device that is not a vehicle. Such non-vehicle originators or recipients may include emergency services, traffic monitoring systems, street lighting, toll collection systems, etc. Systems of the present disclosure that provide such alerts may be referred to as vehicle-to-all or vehicle-to-environment systems (e.g., V2X).

[0022]

[0032] It should be understood that vehicle, car, automobile, and similar terms refer to any vehicle operating on a roadway, including, without limitation, cars, trucks, vans, SUVs, tractor / trailers, buses, and motorcycles, whether autonomous or manually operated, whether carrying passengers, goods, or whether empty.

[0023]

[0033] It should also be understood that for purposes of this disclosure, a wireless signal or communication may be an intermittent or ongoing / continuous signal or communication. A wireless signal may include analog and / or digital communications, unless otherwise specified. As is known in the art, any one wireless communication or signal may include several smaller digital communications or signals that are split for transmission and reassembled by a receiver to complete the original communication or signal.

[0024]

[0034] This disclosure provides various embodiments of systems and methods for providing warnings regarding hazardous conditions or other events from one vehicle to another. The warnings may be transmitted via various digital media described herein and / or otherwise known in the art.

[0025]

[0035] Numerous events may cause an alert to be generated, received, or propagated to the system of the present disclosure. The purpose of the alert in the present disclosure is to communicate to oncoming or incoming vehicles that a vehicle (either the vehicle generating the alert or another vehicle) may be in a malfunction condition and may be causing a dangerous or other abnormal road condition. The alert may be generated automatically based on a number of events. These include, but are not limited to, airbag deployment, ABS or traction control activation, and / or hazard detection by a camera or other onboard automated driving or driver assistance system. Various sensors mounted within and associated with the vehicle can be utilized to detect collisions and other types of hazard or warning events. For example, crash sensors or other components built into the vehicle body, microphones, interior-facing cameras or sensors, glass breakage sensors, and accelerometers can all be used alone or in combination to indicate that an alert should be generated. GPS data may also be useful in this regard. For example, an indication that a non-off-road vehicle has left the road surface may indicate that a collision or malfunction has occurred. Moreover, GPS and other location data can also indicate, for example, on which side of the road a hazard or other warning event occurred. This can be useful for delivering warnings to surrounding or oncoming vehicles, as well as minimizing the chance of warning vehicles that are unlikely to encounter the hazard or malfunction (e.g., on a divided highway, it may be most beneficial to only warn vehicles on the same side of the hazard).

[0026]

[0036] Crash sensor tolerances, or an indication that a severe crash has occurred based on multiple crash sensor data points, may be used by the alerting vehicle or server receiving the alert data to determine how, when, and in what form to relay or deliver the alert to other vehicles or servers. For example, in some cases, detection of a low-level or minor crash combined with GPS or other data indicating the alerting vehicle is operating normally or has reached a safe location off the road may result in such alert not being relayed to oncoming traffic (although the alert may still be delivered to other recipients, such as the vehicle's owner).

[0027]

[0037] In some embodiments, the system of the present disclosure acts to notify other vehicles, drivers, or services of whether there is an actual collision or injury when a vehicle becomes disabled on a road. To that end, the system of the present disclosure may receive mechanical or operational data from other OEM vehicle computers. For example, a power system failure, a battery failure, a motor failure, a stuck engine, a transmission failure, another major vehicle system failure, overheating, flooding, one or more flat or dangerously under-inflated tires, and other events or data can generate an automatic alert. In some cases, such an automatic alert may only occur when a GPS or another vehicle system indicates that the vehicle is no longer moving. In some embodiments, an automatic alert occurs only when the vehicle is determined (e.g., by GPS or other means) to be on or within a predetermined distance from a road (in other words, an alert is not generated, for example, if the vehicle is far enough off the road or in a parking lot). In some cases, the system must determine that the vehicle is in parking or traveling at or below a predetermined speed before an alert is automatically generated.

[0028]

[0038] Where available, the system of the present disclosure may utilize OEM cloud services or vehicle location tracking. A tire blowout or other tire-related event may be detected by the vehicle's tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS). A vehicle rollover may be detected by crash sensors, gyroscopes, and / or accelerometers. A driveline failure may be detected by the vehicle's on-board computers, processors, and sensors. A fuel supply loss may be detected by the vehicle's on-board computers, processors, and sensors. A power system failure may be detected by the vehicle's on-board computers, processors, and sensors. A vehicle stall on or near a road triggering an automated driving system may be detected. Other vehicle immobilization events due to engine flooding may be detected based on the on-board computers, processors, and / or sensors. Each of these, and many more, may result in the system of the present disclosure generating an alert.

[0029]

[0039] Alerts may also be generated by sources other than vehicles. For example, sensors may be installed to detect water levels, road gate closures for toll roads, and when roads are closed due to winter driving conditions, lane shifts or reconfigurations that occur throughout the day in high-traffic areas, railroad crossing barriers, and / or speed or traffic volume and other road conditions. Sensors providing such non-vehicle generated alerts may pass the alerts toward an alert management center described herein, so that such alerts may be transmitted in real time to vehicles that are in the area or that may otherwise use or need such alerts.

[0030]

[0040] In some embodiments, a distinction may be made as to whether a detected event or occurrence warrants the generation of an alert. In some embodiments, all alerts are received by the system of the present disclosure, but a distinction is made as to whether the alert should be forwarded or delivered to other recipients (e.g., other vehicles). This distinction may be made to reduce nuisance activation. Additionally, critical thresholds that may result in propagation of a received alert may be tailored to road conditions, weather, and other indicators. For example, a broken-down vehicle well off the road when traffic is very slow may not be critical, but a vehicle on the shoulder when traffic is heavy and moving fast may be critical.

[0031]

[0041] Some embodiments of the present disclosure can generate alerts based on braking data collected in real time from multiple vehicles. For example, repeated instances of sudden braking or evasive maneuvers near a particular area within a given time frame can be interpreted as an indication that a hazard exists within the area that vehicle sensors would not necessarily automatically detect. Even if it does not occur to the driver to manually send an alert (in systems or embodiments where this is an option), an alert management server receiving the relevant data can begin sending alerts to vehicles entering the area.

[0032]

[0042] Driving data collected from vehicles regarding how the vehicles are being driven, such as acceleration, speed, turning, braking, and other parameters, may be referred to as driving characteristic data. This data, whether collected from a single vehicle or multiple vehicles, may be utilized by the systems of the present disclosure to determine or estimate the presence and / or location of a hazard. For example, heavy braking and / or swerving behavior from a series of vehicles near a particular location may suggest that a hazard exists at that location. In this context, it should be noted that driving characteristic data alone, however obtained, may be used to generate useful warnings, even if few or none of the vehicles are equipped to send warnings themselves.

[0033]

[0043] Encountering a pedestrian on the road or dangerously close to the road can also generate a warning. The warning can be generated from a vehicle properly equipped in accordance with this disclosure, or the warning may be inferred as described above. If the vehicle is equipped with a camera or other sensor capable of detecting pedestrians, the fact that the warning was generated as a result of encountering a pedestrian can be included in any generated warning.

[0034]

[0044] If multiple vehicles are generating alerts in close proximity, the alert management server may escalate the alert that is forwarded to oncoming traffic. Multiple vehicles generating alerts near an area may indicate a multi-vehicle pileup or a widespread problem (e.g., fire or flood). In such cases, the alert sent to oncoming traffic to warn them may be an alert to reroute or avoid the area. Input from emergency services received by the alert management server may also be used to escalate the alert that is forwarded to oncoming traffic (instructions from fire, EMS, police, etc. that the area should be avoided, or other data from fire, EMS, police, etc. from which the alert management server may infer this).

[0035]

[0045] According to the present disclosure, a warning may also occur as a result of a manual action by the driver or other vehicle occupant, which may include, but is not limited to, actuation of a switch (either a dedicated or shared hardware switch or a screen-based soft switch).

[0036]

[0046] Referring now to FIG. 1, an exemplary system 100 according to the present disclosure is shown. FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified schematic diagram of a system 100 capable of deploying high-visibility visual indicators on a vehicle and communicating the presence of such deployment to other vehicles or systems. It should be understood that the system of the present disclosure can relay the presence or activation of conventional hazard lights as well as high-visibility visual indicators—it is not necessarily dependent on the particular lights or danger / warning systems actually deployed. For purposes of this disclosure, a high-visibility visual indicator is a lamp or light visible on the exterior of a vehicle that is distinguishable from headlamps, marker lights, parking lights, brake lights, signal lights, or conventional hazard lights based on variable or increasing flash rate, variable or increasing contrast, variable or increasing brightness, altered or variable color, and / or combinations thereof.

[0037]

[0047] Traditional hazard and signal lights that have been installed on vehicles for decades generally have a maximum flash rate of approximately two cycles per second, or 2 Hz. This was originally due in part to the incandescent lighting and analog circuitry that was state-of-the-art when these systems were developed. This cycle rate continued into the modern era until recently, even when vehicle lighting systems were fully controlled by a body control module (BCM) or other microcontroller. However, modern light-emitting diodes (LEDs), for example, operated by microcontrollers, are capable of operating over a much wider range with respect to cycle rate, brightness, and other parameters. For purposes of this disclosure, hazard lights are considered to be lighting systems that operate according to the slow flash rate (e.g., approximately 2 Hz) supported by legacy incandescent bulbs and analog circuitry, even if the lighting system is actually LED- and / or microcontroller-based.

[0038]

[0048] In some embodiments, system 100 is based on a microprocessor 102. Control routines and programming may be coded for execution on microprocessor 102. Any suitable programming language compatible with the selected microprocessor 102 may be utilized. Programming may be implemented by one skilled in the art to achieve the functionality described herein. In other embodiments, a "hard-coded" silicon chip may be used that is neither programmable nor reprogrammable. In some embodiments, microprocessor 102 is a microcontroller or system-on-chip (SOC) and may include its own memory, I / O controllers, A / D, D / A, etc. Microprocessor 102 (and overall system 100) may be a standalone device installed as original equipment (e.g., during vehicle manufacture), a dealer-installed system, an aftermarket system installed by a suitable installer, or installed and set up in any other suitable manner. System 100 may also be a subcomponent of a larger, more comprehensive system (e.g., a vehicle safety suite).

[0039]

[0049] The microprocessor 102 may be a component or subcomponent of a BCM installed when the vehicle is assembled. In some cases, the functionality of the microprocessor 102 may be encapsulated in the BCM, which is a component of the vehicle when it is first manufactured. In such cases, the BCM 106 and microprocessor 102 shown in FIG. 1 are combined as a single component with all the connections shown (and possibly more). A BCM, such as the BCM 106, may be microprocessor / microcontroller-based or may utilize an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other logic device capable of implementing the necessary controls and routines.

[0040]

[0050] In some embodiments, the microprocessor 102 may be activated or notified from a hazard switch 104. The hazard switch 104 may be a user-accessible hazard light switch used to activate hazard lamps or high-visibility lighting devices. Activation of hazard flashers and / or high-visibility lighting systems may also activate a warning. In other embodiments, the switch 104 is a dedicated or auxiliary switch used specifically to initiate a vehicle-to-vehicle (or V2X) warning or notification routine. In some embodiments, the switch 104 is a “soft switch” activated on the vehicle multipurpose display or menu system 116. The switch 104 merely represents one way of activating the system 100 for various warnings and other functions described herein. In some embodiments, the deployment or generation of a warning may be automatic instead of or in addition to the use of the switch 104.

[0041]

[0051] The display 116 may comprise an OEM component of the vehicle, an aftermarket device, or a device associated with a personal electronic device. For purposes of this disclosure, a personal electronic device may include a phone, tablet, laptop, or any other device that is not necessarily an essential component of the vehicle but is nevertheless capable of providing effective communication to the vehicle via a wired or wireless interface. Personal electronic devices may also include, without limitation, watches, rings, bracelets, eyeglasses, and other wearable electronic devices.

[0042]

[0052] Some personal electronic devices may be capable of obtaining biometric data from a driver or passenger and using it to trigger an alert. For example, a wristwatch that detects a serious health event that is likely to incapacitate the driver may trigger an alert. Regardless of whether an alert is triggered by such a device, information collected by the wearable device may be included in a data packet or digital alert for transmission in accordance with the systems and methods of the present disclosure. Such personal electronic devices may include watches, rings, bracelets, eyeglasses, other wearable electronic devices, and / or any electronic device capable of collecting biometric data, health data, vital signs, and / or medical diagnostic data.

[0043]

[0053] Voice activation provides an additional method by which system 100 can be controlled. To that end, a microphone 119 may be provided. The microphone 119 may be dedicated to the microprocessor 102 and / or may be part of an existing or OEM system, such as a hands-free navigation system, a cell phone, or other personal electronic device that communicates via Bluetooth or the like. A Bluetooth or other wireless microphone may also be utilized (whether part of a phone or other device or a standalone microphone). Thus, system 100 is useful and operational even when the driver or other user is incapacitated or partially incapacitated. It is also known that some vehicles today are capable of determining, via cameras or other means, when the driver's concentration has shifted from the appropriate task at hand (e.g., driving). The use of a microphone 119 also allows auditory information (such as voice) to be included with warnings.

[0044]

[0054] The camera can also detect when the driver or another occupant is incapacitated. Such information can be used to trigger a warning. Thus, system 100 may operate to notify of a hazardous condition even if the driver has not explicitly done so and even if the associated vehicle has not yet deployed any other safety systems (e.g., traction control, airbags, etc.).

[0045]

[0055] The microprocessor 102 can provide communications to the BCM 106 to activate one or more sets of lights 108 associated with the vehicle. The lights 108 may be activated with flashing, strobe, or other communication patterns. The lights 108 may comprise a set of OEM signal lamps. The signal lamps may include incandescent lamps or light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with their fast recovery times and enhanced functionality. These may be used as hazard lights or as high-visibility visual indicators based on control by the microprocessor 102 and / or the BCM 106.

[0046]

[0056] It should be understood that in some embodiments, the microprocessor 102 comprises the BCM 106 itself. In other words, it may replace a known BCM, or it may comprise functionality added to an existing BCM via hardware or software. It should be understood that such additions and modifications include both OEM and aftermarket configurations.

[0047]

[0057] The vehicle may also be placed in danger or distress mode by the microcontroller 110 via the automated vehicle systems described herein. The microcontroller 110 may be a dedicated device or may be an ABS computer or sensor that monitors one or more wheels 112 for slippage, skidding, etc. The microcontroller 110 may also be a traction control computer. The microcontroller 110 may also be an airbag controller or sensor for controlling one or more airbags 114. The microcontroller 110 may also include an accelerometer. In some embodiments, the microcontroller 110 includes the microprocessor 102 and / or the BCM 106. In further embodiments, one or more microcontrollers associated with the vehicles and / or systems of the present disclosure communicate via a Controller Area Network Bus (CANBUS) or another network or protocol.

[0048]

[0058] For purposes of this disclosure, unless otherwise specified, any component or system that provides control over the operation of any aspect of the vehicle may be considered an electronic control system, which may include, without limitation, the microcontroller 110, the BCM 106, an ABS module, a traction control system, an airbag system, an engine or transmission controller, a suspension controller, a cruise control system, and an autonomous driving computer.

[0049]

[0059] A forward-facing sensor (FLS) 120, such as a camera, radar, sonar, or other detection system, is a component that can collect information from the roadway or other location associated with the vehicle. The FLS 120 may be a component of a vehicle safety or automation system, such as, for example, an automated cruise control system, a driver alertness system, or an automated driving system. In some embodiments, the FLS 120 can provide information directly to the microprocessor 102 for analysis. However, the FLS 120 can also provide information to the BCM 106 or an associated vehicle safety system (e.g., automated driving), which then provides information to the microprocessor 102. Such provided information may include, for example, that the vehicle has left its lane or roadway, that a collision has occurred or is imminent, that an animal or obstacle is in the roadway, that another vehicle is in the roadway, or that other hazards exist. Capabilities to recognize such hazards are currently known in the art. In various embodiments, the present disclosure provides systems and methods for communicating such hazards ahead to external systems and to a vehicle and driver that would otherwise be unable to notice such hazards.

[0050]

[0060] During operation, if any of the hazards described above or other hazards are indicated, or if microcontroller 110 detects that a skid, vehicle traction control, ABS activation, airbag deployment, or any other safety-related event has occurred, this information may be relayed to microprocessor 102 and a high-visibility visual indicator may be activated (e.g., using light 108). It should be understood that low tire pressure, low engine coolant, overheating of the transmission, low or empty gasoline, and other events may also include triggers for placing the vehicle in a distress or danger state, resulting in the activation of a high-visibility visual indicator. As illustrated, this may be done using light 108. However, separate beacons or auxiliary lights may also be used.

[0051]

[0061] As a result of any type of activation of a high-visibility visual indicator performed or otherwise indicated by microprocessor 102, system 100 can provide an audio alert to the driver that system 100 has activated for a warning or notification and what mode system 100 is in. A speaker 119 may be provided, or an audible cue may be provided via the vehicle audio system or another system. Similarly, a visual cue may be provided via display screen 116, illumination of switch 104, head-up display 117, or by other mechanism. Various systems may be capable of multiple modes of high-visibility visual indicators as well as traditional hazard modes. Thus, the particular high-visibility visual indicator or hazard mode deployed may be accessible and even changeable by the user (e.g., via voice command, display panel 116, switch 104, or other device).

[0052]

[0062] In addition to providing instructions or feedback to the user or vehicle driver, the system 100 can electronically communicate a danger, distress, or emergency condition to other vehicles or receivers. Onward communication of a danger / distress / emergency condition may occur automatically. In some embodiments, the user can initiate such communication or prevent its communication outside the vehicle. For example, a turn signal (e.g., light 108) may be activated for inspection purposes or visual effect unrelated to a true distress or emergency. It may be desirable to suppress such communication to avoid false signals being propagated to other vehicles.

[0053]

[0063] An antenna 118 may be provided for outbound communications. The antenna may be dedicated for use by the system 100 or may be a diversity antenna capable of more than one use. The antenna may be an OEM or aftermarket item. It should also be understood that more than one type of antenna may be utilized. For example, the system 100 may include a Wi-Fi antenna, a cellular network antenna, a Bluetooth antenna, etc., as desired.

[0054]

[0064] The microprocessor 102 can access the GPS data for use in providing data about the vehicle or for purposes of mapping the received signals to the location of the vehicle to which it is attached. A GPS unit 125 is shown in communication with the microprocessor 102 for illustrative purposes. The GPS unit 125 may be dedicated for use by the system 100, an individual vehicle subsystem, or component of a subsystem, or may even display GPS data or an "app" from a user's or passenger's personal electronic device.

[0055]

[0065] The communication of an emergency event may be a simple indication to anyone with an appropriate receiver that a vehicle in the area is in distress (e.g., disabled, crashed, wrecked, unexpectedly stopped, etc.). However, additional useful information may also be communicated. Information that may be communicated via system 100 includes, but is not limited to, the vehicle system that notified the emergency (ABS, towing, airbags, manual activation, etc.), vehicle location (e.g., via GPS), speed, vehicle mechanical status (operable or not), vehicle orientation (rollover or other condition, and direction of heading), airbag deployment, and the apparent status of the driver (in control or otherwise). In some embodiments, it may be possible to communicate, via a camera or other sensor, the number of vehicle occupants, seat belt status, and additional information that may be available to microprocessor 102.

[0056]

[0066] Upon receiving alert data, such as location data, system 100 can calculate when the receiving vehicle is on a blocking course involving an emergency condition or hazard (e.g., the disabled vehicle that generated the alert). System 100 can identify the driver of the vehicle and only notify them that they are likely to encounter the vehicle that notified them of the emergency condition. This can minimize unnecessary alerts to nearby vehicles that are not on a blocking course or are otherwise unlikely to encounter the hazard. In other embodiments, system 100 associated with the vehicle that generated the alert can have the ability to identify which vehicles should receive that alert (e.g., when provided with appropriate data about other nearby vehicles). In other embodiments, a remote server or cloud-based system receives all alerts from vehicles equipped with system 100 or similar systems and determines which other similarly equipped vehicles should receive which alerts. In further embodiments, the identification can occur at multiple points (e.g., the alert-generating vehicle, the alert-receiving vehicle, or an intermediate server, computer, or cloud-based system).

[0057]

[0067] Notification to vehicle occupants of the received alert can consist of an audio or visual indication system built into system 100, or the alert notification may be provided via an interface to a vehicle entertainment system or other system. If the receiving vehicle is equipped with a head-up display, a visual indication may be projected. Using GPS information, system 100 may also display the location of the distressed (i.e., alert-generating) vehicle on an in-vehicle GPS map display.

[0058]

[0068] In some embodiments, system 100 may be able to wirelessly receive (via antenna 118 or another antenna) transmissions that may pertain to an emergency or dangerous situation in another vehicle. Thus, microprocessor 102 may be communicatively coupled to both the transmitter and receiver. This allows system 100 to notify occupants that a nearby vehicle may be in danger, even if the occupants cannot visually observe the vehicle (due to terrain, traffic, buildings, weather conditions, etc.). This may also allow vehicles to be notified that EMS, fire, police, etc. vehicles are in the roadway so that drivers can take precautions or prepare to stop or slow down. System 100 may also allow officers or emergency personnel (e.g., some occupants) to be provided with more information than other nearby vehicles identified only as normal civilian traffic. Of course, privacy concerns may need to be taken into consideration in any such system.

[0059]

[0069] Within this disclosure, various connections and relationships may be depicted between components through which data is communicated and / or signals are exchanged. Such connections may be referred to as communicative couplings. For example, microprocessor 102 may be said to be communicatively coupled to microcontroller 110 or display screen 116 or any other device with which microprocessor 102 interacts. For purposes of this disclosure, unless otherwise indicated, communicative couplings may be based on any known, reliable communication method or protocol. Communicative couplings may be as simple as wire leads between components or may be more elaborate industry-standard connections such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB) or even part of a Controller Area Network Bus (CANBUS). Communicative couplings may also include wireless protocols or line-of-sight protocols based on infrared or other signals. In some embodiments, communicative couplings for alerts or other data may occur via multiple communication systems (e.g., satellite and cellular, or via various intermediate servers), simultaneously or sequentially.

[0060]

[0070] 2, various examples of vehicle-to-vehicle communication mechanisms utilizing a system, such as the vehicle-to-vehicle communication mechanism of the present disclosure, are shown. Here, vehicle 202 is shown a distance away from second vehicle 206 on roadway 204. It should be understood that the vehicles may be much farther apart than shown, and that terrain, obstacles, and other vehicles may exist between the two exemplary vehicles shown. Vehicles 202, 206 are also considered to be equipped with a hazard or safety communication system, such as system 100 or a similar system.

[0061]

[0071] In this example, vehicle 202 encounters a hazard, breakdown, collision, or other event that places the vehicle in a state of hazard, emergency, or distress. High-visibility visual indicators may be deployed by vehicle 202. If the high-visibility visual indicators include front signal lights 222 and rear signal lights 224, both may rapidly flash and / or provide directional strobes (e.g., right to left). This may be done manually by action of the driver or another occupant, or automatically by one or more automated vehicle systems. The hazardous condition may be communicated wirelessly to provide advance warning to other drivers, to request emergency services, or for other reasons.

[0062]

[0072] In the illustrated example, vehicle 202 communicates a hazardous condition to vehicle 206, thus enabling vehicle 206 to be prepared, either automatically or for control by its driver, for an emergency ahead that may not be visible from the location of vehicle 206. In some embodiments, wireless communication 208 may occur directly between vehicles. The signal or warning communicated in this direct manner may be a digital or analog signal generated on a dedicated radio frequency reserved for such purpose. However, it may also occur via a network system with an external infrastructure, such as, but not limited to, a cellular phone network or a satellite-based network.

[0063]

[0073] It should be understood that more than one vehicle may receive an emergency warning or instruction from vehicle 202. For example, more than one vehicle may receive a locally broadcast signal. Additionally, in some embodiments, vehicle 206 may automatically further relay the received information in a daisy-chain-like fashion. In some embodiments, there may be limitations on the number of times or distance an emergency instruction or danger can be relayed. For example, there may be little or no benefit in relaying a message to a vehicle some distance away that is unlikely to encounter the danger at all or within any reasonable time frame. The distance of the receiving vehicle from the original transmitting vehicle may be based on available GPS data, cell tower data, or other information available to microprocessor 102.

[0064]

[0074] It is contemplated that direct, wireless, or vehicle-to-vehicle communication by the system of the present disclosure may occur via any known wireless radio frequency protocol. It is also understood that vehicle-to-vehicle communication may occur via visible light notification (e.g., vehicle 206 monitoring high frequency flashes of lights on vehicle 202, such as by camera 120), via infrared (by an IR transceiver integrated with the associated vehicle), or via other light-based communication methods.

[0065]

[0075] As shown, vehicle 202 communicates a current hazard condition to a wireless telephone or data network (e.g., cellular), represented here by network tower 210, as indicated by cellular communication link 212. Network tower 210 may include telephone and data networks such as 3G / 4G / 5G or other networks. The systems and methods of the present disclosure are intended for operation with any known network unless otherwise indicated. Network 210 can communicate the emergency or hazard to other vehicles in the area, as indicated by cellular communication link 214. Again, not all vehicles in the area are necessarily affected by the particular hazard encountered by vehicle 202. A system (e.g., system 100) onboard the alerted vehicle can distinguish between hazards that will or will not affect the alerted vehicle based on the location and type of emergency (if provided). For example, a hazard on an adjacent street does not necessarily trigger a warning or any other action for a vehicle that receives an indication of the hazard from network 210.

[0066]

[0076] In another embodiment, the presence of a hazard may be relayed to relevant vehicles and other devices via a warning via satellite network 216. In such a case, vehicle 202 may convey an emergency or hazard warning including relevant data to satellite network 216 via satellite communications link 218. Such information or warning may then be relayed to vehicle 206 via satellite communications link 220, or possibly to other vehicles by network 216 using other satellite links. It should be understood that satellite network 216 may provide more than one satellite. The systems and methods of the present disclosure are not limited to any particular satellite system implementation.

[0067]

[0077] In addition to other vehicles, such as vehicle 206, the hazard and warning may be communicated to emergency services 230. This may be done, for example, via a satellite communication link 232, a cellular connection 234, or another communication link. Emergency services may include, but are not limited to, fire, police, ambulance, and roadside assistance services. If the information provided by the vehicle notifying the hazard is detailed enough, time may be saved by dispatching the services most relevant to the distressed vehicle 202. For example, if the hazard or distress warning is the result of only a mechanical failure, roadside assistance and perhaps police may be notified, but EMS or fire may not. Similarly, warnings may be generated automatically or manually by emergency services 230, which may then be passed on to vehicles, such as vehicle 202, 206, or other vehicles. Emergency services vehicles equipped with system 100 or a similar system according to the present disclosure may generate warnings based on being at the scene of a broken-down vehicle, medical emergency, or other hazard, as well as by encountering mechanical difficulties or detecting hazards similar to passenger vehicles described herein. In some cases, emergency vehicles equipped with a system 100 according to the present disclosure or a similar system may have the ability to manually generate an alert.

[0068]

[0078] Sensor network 240 represents an alert source other than a vehicle. Sensor network 240 may include a network of sensors, such as, for example, water, traffic, gate, road, and other sensors known in the art. Network 240 may include a computer network, microcontroller, or other computing device that determines when associated sensors detect a hazard or other event that should result in an alert. Location information may also be provided with the alert. Satellite communication link 242, cellular link 244, or other communication links may be used to enable alerts generated from sensors and / or sensor network 240 to be propagated. It should also be understood that wireless communication 208, cellular communication link 212, cellular communication link 214, satellite communication link 218, and satellite communication link 220 are further instances of a communicative coupling. A communicative coupling is not necessarily a physical link or coupling unless indicated.

[0069]

[0079] Similar to vehicle-to-vehicle notification, a vehicle system (e.g., system 100), sensor network 240, and / or another server or cloud computing system can determine which particular vehicles should receive alerts from sensor network 240. It should also be understood that more than one non-vehicle sensor network may be utilized, as different non-vehicle sensor networks may be implemented based on location, structure or type of event being monitored, network ownership, etc.

[0070]

[0080] The warning, warning signal, or warning communication can take any number of forms. In one embodiment, the warning is simply a signal that there is a hazardous communication in the area. For example, a broadcast on a specific frequency may occur, or a digital signal may be distributed over any available connection. However, increasing the information included in the warning or warning signal, even with a small amount of data requiring only a small amount of bandwidth or airtime, can greatly increase the usefulness of the warning. Furthermore, the content of the warning may depend on the type of warning and / or whether the warning is inbound (to the vehicle) or outbound (from the vehicle).

[0071]

[0081] Referring now to FIG. 7, an exemplary diagram of an outbound alert is shown. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information can be formatted and transmitted in a wide variety of ways; the format shown is merely an example. The outbound alert in FIG. 7 is an example of an alert that may be generated from a passenger vehicle manually, automatically, or with a combination of automatic and manual elements. For example, an incident ID may be automatically generated or assigned. The incident ID may be generated by a vehicle alert system (e.g., system 100) or a communicatively coupled alert management system. The incident ID may be useful for record-keeping or to enable further alerts to be generated based on the same incident. For example, an initial incident, such as a vehicle with a stalled engine, may generate an alert. However, if an airbag subsequently deploys (indicating that the vehicle has been hit by another car), a subsequent alert may be generated under the same incident ID. A vehicle ID may also be transmitted.

[0072]

[0082] The location field may include GPS coordinates or other location information. Vehicle speed may also be provided. This may be zero quite often, but not necessarily. For example, an alert may be generated based on an APS or airbag deployment. A fast processor and network may allow an alert to be generated and sent before the vehicle comes to a stop, or if the vehicle continues moving. Alerts may also be useful in cases where the vehicle continues moving for safety or other reasons after the alert. For example, a vehicle on a busy highway with a flat tire (which triggers an alert) may choose to drive slowly toward an exit ramp.

[0073]

[0083] Orientation may refer to the orientation of the vehicle itself. The direction the vehicle is facing may be based on compass readings, accelerometer data, etc. This may indicate the severity of an accident or the nature of the danger. Similarly, a vehicle rollover may be indicated. Engine status may indicate whether the vehicle engine is running or not operational at all. Similar conditions may be reported for electric vehicles. Airbags may indicate whether the airbags have deployed. Passenger status may provide information regarding the health of the occupants. Some vehicles may, for example, determine whether the driver or passenger is likely conscious. Additionally, if a wearable device or other personal electronic device reports passenger or driver health data to the system, this may be transmitted along with an alert, if relevant.

[0074]

[0084] Referring now to FIG. 8 , an exemplary diagram of an inbound alert is shown. Those skilled in the art will understand that information can be formatted and transmitted in a wide variety of ways, and the format shown is merely an example. The inbound alert of FIG. 8 is one example of an alert that may be sent by an alert management system via satellite, cellular, or other communication channel to a passenger vehicle having a system similar to system 100. The inbound alert may be used as the basis for system 100 to generate an alert for the driver or passengers, or to take any number of actions, such as those disclosed herein.

[0075]

[0085] An inbound alert, such as that shown in FIG. 8, may provide a vehicle description of the vehicle that originally generated the alert (if applicable). For example, the vehicle description might simply list a "blue sedan" or a "white truck." The vehicle description might also include more detailed information, such as a license plate number or other official identifier. This information may be communicated to the driver / passenger, for example, via the display screen 116. A location field may include GPS information for the vehicle that generated the alert, allowing the location of the broken-down or alerting vehicle on a map to be displayed on the display screen 116, utilized for road guidance, or other use by the system 100. Orientation may be another useful field, allowing the system 100 to notify the user that the broken-down vehicle is heading down the wrong road, has rolled over, etc.

[0076]

[0086] The emergency type field can be useful for informing a user of the system 100 (the user can be a driver or a passenger) of what type of emergency is being reported. For example, a stalled vehicle, flat tire, rolled vehicle, medical emergency, or collision can all be indicated within the field. Additionally, the fields may be changed, and the alert may be resent as the situation changes. For example, a stalled vehicle may become a collision report. Resending the alert with the appropriate fields updated using the same incident ID can allow the system 100 to update or notify the user accordingly. Other fields may also be updated, as well as the basis of the situation.

[0077]

[0087] The data fields of the illustrated outbound alerts may be formatted in several ways, as known in the art. The fields may contain simple ASCII characters, hexadecimal values, or other types of data. In some instances, the alerts are encoded according to known methods. Similarly, inbound or outbound messages, alerts, or other communications may be formatted differently with different data and fields than those shown in the examples of FIGS. 7-8.

[0078]

[0088] Referring now back to FIG. 3 , a communication link diagram of another embodiment of an emergency communications system link 300 is shown, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. System 300 shares vehicle-mounted components with system 100 (although not all components are shown for clarity). Here, a particular vehicle 202 is shown as a logical boundary. High-visibility visual indicators 222, 224 are shown outside the boundary of vehicle 202 to signify that they are visible outside (e.g., front or rear) of vehicle 202. Internal components of system 100 are shown within vehicle 202, including display screen 116 and optional switchgear 303. If a head-up display 117 is provided, either as original equipment or an aftermarket add-on, it may be communicatively coupled to other components of system 100 (such as microprocessor 102) to receive and display warnings, messages, or other information. Antenna 118 is also shown external to vehicle 202, but it may actually be within the vehicle's boundary as long as it is capable of establishing a communication link with network 210. Although only a single vehicle 202 is shown schematically for clarity, it should be understood that multiple vehicles may be equipped with system 100 or a similar system so that they can participate in issuing and receiving alerts as described herein.

[0079]

[0089] Network 210, as previously described, can send and receive communications to and from vehicle 202 and other vehicles. However, here, network 210 transmits data over Internet 301 using TCP / IP, HTTPS, and / or another suitable protocol. The data may be encrypted or otherwise secured, as known in the art. Data from vehicle 202 is ultimately provided to alert management system 302. Alert management system 302 may include a computer, server, or another computing platform. In some embodiments, alert management system 302 includes a distributed system, such as a cloud computer or server or multiple cloud computers or servers in communication with each other. A redundant configuration, such as multiple redundant servers capable of functioning as alert management system 302, may be employed to ensure continuous availability of alert management system 302. It should be understood that alert management system 302 may be any device capable of processing, analyzing, prioritizing, and distributing indications of hazardous conditions and location data using software methods known in the art.

[0080]

[0090] The alert management system 302 can track vehicles based on GPS location or other data. Thus, the alert management system 302 can then identify to which other vehicles a received notification of a hazard or emergency condition should be relayed. The alert management system 302 may also be connected to automatically request EMS or other services. GPS and other known data may be provided by the alert management system 302 to associated services to assist in faster response times.

[0081]

[0091] In some embodiments, the alert management system 302 receives an alert that includes data related to the alert and then determines, based on the data, what type of alert was received and how, when, and where to forward the alert. For example, an alert received from the vehicle 202 or elsewhere may simply reflect the alert situation and then the set of data that caused the alert. For example, if the data with or included in the alert is an airbag deployment indicator or crash sensor data, the alert management system 302 determines that a collision has occurred and, accordingly, propagates an alert to other vehicles and services (e.g., EMS). On the other hand, if the alert data is based on an engine or driveline failure, a different type of alert may be sent to nearby traffic and services (e.g., roadside assistance). Inbound and outbound alert formats are described in more detail below. In addition to alerting other vehicles and services when an alert is received from a vehicle, the alert management system may also perform its own recording or archiving and may also transmit data to other locations for recording or archiving. Entities or recipients other than the vehicle and service may also receive alert notifications. For example, a vehicle owner, parent / guardian, or commercial vehicle operations office may receive a text, email, audio alert, or other type of alert based on being associated with a vehicle such as vehicle 202 that generated the alert.

[0082]

[0092] An example of a personal electronic device, phone 314, in communication with system 100 is also shown in FIG. 3. Communication may occur via Bluetooth or another wireless protocol, or via a tethered / wired connection. In some cases, phone 314 may provide interaction with system 100, possibly providing occupant / user data and / or GPS information. System 100 may be partially or fully controllable via phone 314 via an app or another suitable interface. System 100 may also be operable to interface with phone 314 via well-known protocols such as Apple CarPlay®, Android Auto®, etc.

[0083]

[0093] In some embodiments, system 100 may include applications running locally on a vehicle infotainment system or other vehicle system capable of executing applications and / or programming (whether aftermarket, third-party, or OEM). In some cases, system 100 may include one or more programs running remotely on a remote computing platform or cloud computing system that is in periodic or continuous communication with the vehicle's display unit or infotainment system for use in one-way or two-way communication with the driver or user of the system (e.g., the vehicle may function as a "dumb terminal" for all or part of system 100).

[0084]

[0094] In some embodiments, the system of the present disclosure is agnostic as to whether communications, messages, and / or alerts are provided via 2G / 3G / 4G / 5G cellular, satellite, dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), heterogeneous intermediary systems, or any other suitable future communications technology. The communications link, notifications, and / or messaging may be provided as a direct connection between the vehicle's telematics system and the cloud, which then determines where to forward the information based on the status and location of the hazard. As an example, a "Brand X" vehicle may bypass the OEM's "Brand X" cloud and send information directly to a cloud system in accordance with the present disclosure. The direct communications connection may be between an aftermarket-installed modem and a cloud that determines where to forward the information based on the status and location of the hazard. As an example, an aftermarket transponder in accordance with the present disclosure may send data directly to a cloud system in accordance with the present disclosure.

[0085]

[0095] In some embodiments, a connection may be made between a vehicle's telematics system and the OEM cloud. The OEM cloud may then transmit the received information to another cloud system, which determines where to forward the information based on the state and location of the hazard. For example, a vehicle communicates a hazard event to the OEM cloud, which then integrates with the cloud system of the present disclosure to transmit the data. A connection may also be established between a vehicle's telematics system and an intermediate cloud, which then transmits the information to a cloud that determines where to forward the information based on the state and location of the hazard. For example, a haul vehicle communicates directly to a company's fleet management cloud (with a built-in modem rather than an added transponder), which then integrates with the cloud system of the present disclosure to transmit the data. A connection may be established between an aftermarket-installed modem and the intermediate cloud, which then transmits the information to a cloud that determines where to forward the information based on the state and location of the hazard. For example, a commercial truck may communicate with any onboard communication unit, which transmits data to a company's fleet management cloud, which then integrates with the cloud system of the present disclosure to communicate the data.

[0086]

[0096] Referring now to FIG. 9 , an exemplary diagram of various communication links 900 between systems of the present disclosure is shown. The alert management system 302 aggregates data or outbound alerts and determines how to field them prior to alert delivery (e.g., within an inbound alert being sent). For example, multiple collision alerts in an area over a short time frame may indicate a pileup, thereby altering which vehicles in the area receive the alert and whether they report the alert as a collision, pileup, traffic congestion, etc. To this end, the alert management system 302 may have communicative couplings with one or more vehicles 902, the EMS 230, and one or more sensors or sensor networks 240. These communicative couplings 904 may be unidirectional or bidirectional as desired. Furthermore, the communicative couplings 904 may exist via any suitable wired, wireless, or optical system, including, but not limited to, cellular, satellite, frequency modulation, microwave, or any other suitable electromagnetic communication mechanism, as well as known wired or optical communication mechanisms.

[0087]

[0097] As illustrated, the system of FIG. 9 has a hub-and-spoke topology. This allows data and alerts to be collected in one system 302 in real time, which may have benefits for archiving and aggregation. However, the system of the present disclosure may be implemented in a peer-to-peer manner or based on any suitable topology. As explained above, redundancy may be implemented at the computer / server / cloud level as well as the network level. In some embodiments, the system according to the present disclosure defaults to a first type of connection (e.g., cellular) but can then quickly switch to a backup system (e.g., satellite) if necessary.

[0088]

[0098] Referring now back to FIG. 4 , a diagram 400 is shown illustrating potential relationships between moving vehicles and disabled vehicles on a road network. Diagram 400 illustrates at least some of the functionality of devices and systems according to the present disclosure deployed in a realistic scenario. A roadway 402 is shown having a straight section 404 that connects to a curved section 406. Where straight section 404 connects to curved section 406, a clear view of roadway 402 is blocked by a building 408 (although building 408 could be any other obstruction, including trees, terrain, guardrails, or limited visibility due to weather conditions). A side road 410 is also shown connecting to roadway 402 at straight section 404. For illustrative purposes, various vehicles 420, 422, 424, 426 are shown in various positions.

[0089]

[0099] In a basic example, if vehicle 422 encounters a hazardous condition (such as, but not limited to, any of the examples provided above) and vehicle 422 is properly equipped ("properly equipped," in this context, means equipped with system 100 or a similar system according to the present disclosure), vehicle 422 can deploy (manually or automatically) a high-visibility visual indicator indicating the hazard and resulting in a wireless alert being transmitted. Assuming vehicle 424 is properly equipped, it may receive the alert (directly or from network 210) and thus be alerted, perhaps well before the hazard is recognized by the driver. If vehicle 424 has cruise control engaged, it may be canceled, the brakes may be applied, or any number of precautions based on the automated vehicle control system may be taken.

[0090]

[0100] In some embodiments, driver assistance features are automatically disabled upon receiving an inbound safety alert. In some embodiments, receipt of an inbound warning can trigger automatic activation of features such as hazard lights (standard or high visibility or strobes). According to some embodiments, an automated driving or navigation system reroutes upon receiving an inbound safety alert to avoid the location of the vehicle that issued the original outbound safety alert or to avoid related or unrelated traffic congestion.

[0091]

[0101] If vehicle 424 is also properly equipped, the hazard indication may also be communicated (from vehicle 420 or network 210) to vehicle 424. In this way, even if vehicle 424 may have only limited visibility down the road for vehicle 420 or otherwise have no indication of the hazard other than slowing down or avoiding vehicle 420, vehicle 424 can be immediately alerted and the driver or driving system can take appropriate preventative action. Any automated steps taken or level of warning provided to the human driver (e.g., louder alarm, visible flashing light, etc.) may increase based on the proximity of either vehicle 420, 424 to the disabled or hazard-hitting vehicle 422 depending on proximity, speed, road conditions, or other factors.

[0092]

[0102] In some situations, a vehicle receiving a warning of a hazardous condition from a nearby vehicle can automatically deploy its high-visibility visual indicator. For example, when vehicles 420 or 424 are close enough to hazardous vehicle 422 so as not to provide a visual signal when not necessary, they can deploy their own high-visibility visual indicator to provide a warning to vehicles not equipped with a system according to the present disclosure.

[0093]

[0103] In another example, if vehicle 420 breaks down in the roadway, vehicle 424 may automatically deploy its high-visibility visual indicators upon encountering vehicle 420 and automatically transmit a signal to network 210 and / or via local broadcast indicating a hazardous condition due to a high-risk situation due to limited visibility around building 408. Such action may be taken, for example, by system 100 deployed in vehicle 424, even if the driver does not react. Microprocessor 102 may be informed, based on GPS data, camera data, or other data, that vehicle 424 has stopped in the roadway and that this is not the result of a traffic jam or other relatively innocuous condition. Oncoming vehicle 426 is thus alerted based on its own system (e.g., system 100), and if it is not so equipped, the driver has an improved opportunity to react in a timely and appropriate manner based on at least the increased visibility of vehicle 424.

[0094]

[0104] In another example, vehicle 428 is wrecked on side road 410, occupying two lanes of traffic. If vehicle 428 is so properly equipped (e.g., with a system such as 100), vehicle 428 can automatically deploy high-visibility visual indicators and communicate its situation and GPS location by direct broadcast and / or locally over network 210. Vehicle 420 may be passing very close to disabled vehicle 428, but may not deploy its high-visibility visual indicators because its microprocessor 102 may calculate, based on GPS data, that vehicle 420 will not necessarily encounter vehicle 428 at all. Thus, a signal corresponding to disabled vehicle 428 may not be erroneously propagated, potentially causing a slowdown or collision stack from vehicles 424, 426.

[0095]

[0105] It should be understood that these examples are illustrative only, and that the systems and methods of the present disclosure may have many other modes of operation and many other capabilities. It should also be understood that in addition to direct vehicle-to-vehicle communication and communication via network 210, the illustrated vehicles may communicate via satellite and / or server-based systems (e.g., 300), or combinations thereof.

[0096]

[0106] Alerts generated and forwarded from vehicle to vehicle, vehicle to cloud, or cloud to vehicle, and any other systems, can provide details about the alert-generating vehicle's status and situational awareness that may be helpful or beneficial to responders and other road users. The communication containing the alert may include information such as hazardous conditions, vehicle location, year, make, model, color, owner, and passenger information, etc., to a roadside assistance network provider via data packets for the purpose of communicating the status and accelerating response. As an example, the aforementioned data forwarding via the alert may be provided to a roadside assistance service. As an example, such data or alert may be forwarded to a 911 call center. It should be understood that the foregoing examples represent actual data forwarding and not merely an automated call or connection to a call center, which may be more limited in usefulness.

[0097]

[0107] Additionally, the alert may include a communication sent to the subscriber's selected emergency contact list including the hazardous condition, vehicle location, year, make, model, color, owner, and passenger information, etc. As an example, a text or automated phone call to the vehicle owner or parent / guardian. Another exemplary alert may include a communication including transmission of such data to a fleet operator, fleet management system, command center, text / call to fleet supervisor or company management, etc.

[0098]

[0108] In some embodiments, hazardous condition data such as these or other may be transmitted to an emergency broadcast service as part of a warning. Further distribution of such data may be geofenced for distribution only to nearby road users. In some cases, the warning communication may include hazardous conditions, vehicle location and / or year, make, model, color, owner, and passenger information, etc., transmitted via data packets to a traffic management system for the purpose of conveying situational awareness. For example, in the case of a multi-vehicle pileup (directly indicated or inferred based on data from multiple vehicles), the warning communication may indicate that traffic is likely to be backed up from a roadblock ahead. The traffic management system can use this information to turn navigation screen depictions on nearby vehicles on the route ahead yellow or red, or provide a warning in some other way. Today, this is primarily done by traffic cameras that detect traffic congestion. However, the systems and methods of the present disclosure improve warning issuance and make it more accurate.

[0099]

[0109] In some cases, road conditions may exist that do not necessarily pertain to any particular vehicle, but may nevertheless present a hazard that may be mitigated by effective communication utilizing the systems and methods of the present disclosure. When such an event is detected and manually provided to the system of the present disclosure, an associated alert may be generated and propagated through the system accordingly. The manual provision of the event may, in some embodiments, be performed by the driver, a passenger, or another user of the system. In some embodiments, EMS, police, fire departments, roadside assistance services, etc. may provide the manual alert.

[0100]

[0110] Events that may be reported that do not necessarily correspond to specific vehicle alerts include the presence of pedestrians on the road or in other dangerous positions. Another event may include automatic emergency braking (AEB) and other active countermeasures. The system of the present disclosure can collect alerts and data from alerts when there are multiple vehicles braking hard in close proximity to each other, as well as alerts to drivers approaching potential accident scenes or suddenly stopped traffic ahead. When multiple vehicles stop ahead (even if not caused by a collision), a warning can be sent to approaching drivers.

[0101]

[0111] An overheating vehicle can also generate an alert, which may be distributed by the cloud system of the present disclosure to roadside assistance, emergency responders, the vehicle owner, the vehicle owner's parents, etc. Such an alert may be useful, for example, in preventing injury to children or other occupants left in an abandoned vehicle.

[0102]

[0112] Warnings related to flooding on roads can also be propagated. Drivers may not realize how high the water level is and may drive into deep water. Vehicles may become stuck and swept away by floodwaters, sometimes resulting in injury or death. Transponders can be placed in water level gauges (e.g., as part of the sensor network 240) and transmit to a system according to the present disclosure, which can then warn approaching drivers that the road ahead is impassable.

[0103]

[0113] Referring now to FIG. 10 , a diagram of a geofenced alert distribution device 1000 according to an aspect of the present disclosure is shown. FIG. 10 is intended to represent another realistic scenario for applying a digital alert system 100 according to the present disclosure or a similar system, possibly including an alert management system 302 according to the present disclosure or a similar system, as well as any intervening necessary communication links or couplings. The scenario in FIG. 10 shows a road 1002 having a northbound side 1004 (which may include one or more lanes) and a southbound side 1006 (which may include one or more lanes). As an example, a broken-down vehicle 1008 is stopped on the southbound side 1006. The vehicle 1008 automatically or manually deploys the digital alert system 100 to send an alert (detailed or otherwise) to the alert management system 302.

[0104]

[0114] The warning management system 302 can begin tracking all vehicles to which it is connected and that are known to be within the approach zone 1010 on the southbound side 1006. In some embodiments, the warning management system 302 continuously or intermittently tracks vehicles that are deployed with warning system 100 or a similar system. In some embodiments, once an alert is received by the warning management system 302, the warning management system 302 may send location request communications, not necessarily alerts, to properly equipped vehicles (e.g., including system 100 or a similar system) that are known or presumed to be within the area of ​​the alert. Such determinations may be made based on previous communications, GPS data, cellular data, satellite data, etc. Once location information for vehicles throughout the area is more precisely known, it can be determined, for example, which vehicles are within the approach zone 1010 and should receive actual warning messages. Automated location collection from properly equipped vehicles prior to issuing or forwarding received alerts to them can prevent unnecessary or nuisance alerts.

[0105]

[0115] A second approach area 1012 may be defined on the northbound side 1004 of the road 1002. Note that this area extends approximately south from the location of the broken-down vehicle 1008, while area 1010 extends approximately north from the location of the vehicle 1010. If vehicles only within these areas 1010, 1012 are alerted, vehicles that are likely to be approaching the broken-down vehicle 1008 will be alerted, but vehicles that are unlikely to be approaching the broken-down vehicle 1008 will not be alerted, even if they are closer measured by distance alone. It should also be understood that in this and other embodiments, time of approach can be used in addition to or instead of distance to determine which vehicles should receive an alert. The time may be based, for example, on vehicle speed and distance from the hazard. It should also be understood that distance may be determined on a point-to-point basis (e.g., "as the crow flies") or can also be based on a route or projected route (e.g., distance on a map) using available roads and / or other navigable surfaces.

[0106]

[0116] Depending on the type of warning from the vehicle 1008 (for example, if the road 1002 is a divided road, or if the warning is only of a relatively minor hazard such as a flat tire when the vehicle 1008 is on the shoulder or even off the road 1002), the approach area 1012 may not be warned of.

[0107]

[0117] Also shown is a side road 1014 that connects to the road 1002 from the west. Vehicles traveling in the westbound lanes 1016 on this road 1016 may not need to receive a warning about the disabled vehicle 1008, but vehicles traveling in the eastbound lanes 1018 may benefit from a warning. This approach area 1020 may be defined in the eastbound lanes 1018 as entering the road 1002. Vehicles in this approach area 1020 may receive a warning about the disabled vehicle 1008.

[0108]

[0118] A vehicle entering road 1002 from side road 1016 may not actually be on course to encounter vehicle 1008 or any hazards near this area. For example, a vehicle may be entering road 1002 to make a right turn, which would be moving away from vehicle 1008. Thus, in some embodiments, approach area 1020 may be defined to cover only the leftmost or eastbound lane (and thus the lane most likely to contain a vehicle turning left or heading north from this location). In other embodiments, approach area 1020 is still considered to cover all lanes, but the system of the present disclosure may only track the location of vehicles within approach area 1020 and warn only vehicles in the left lane. In a further embodiment, all vehicles in approach area 1020 are warned so that they are all given the option of turning right to avoid disabled vehicle 1008 or other hazards, or proceeding left at the intersection, knowing that turning in this direction will require additional caution with potential slowdowns.

[0109]

[0119] In addition to GPS data relayed to the alert management system 302 by any vehicle in the approach zone 1020 (or another zone or area), system 100 or a similar system may also provide other sensor data, including camera data, steering wheel angle, signal light activation, and other data that can indicate the driver's intent or the planned direction of the vehicle entering a junction or intersection. This information can be further used to identify when to send an alert. For example, if a properly equipped vehicle enters the road 1002 in the approach zone 1020 but indicates a right turn, no alert may be sent, or if received, system 100 may not notify the driver. On the other hand, being in the approach zone 1020 with a left-turn turn signal or indicator on may cause an alert to be sent, or a received alert to be brought to the driver's attention. In further embodiments, being in the approach zone 1020 (or a similar location where turning direction may result in encountering or avoiding a hazard) may result in a warning being brought to the driver's attention in a less intrusive or less obtrusive manner (e.g., illumination of a light), while being in the approach zone 1020 combined with a turn signal or other data that tends to indicate that the vehicle is about to move toward a hazard may result in an increased notification (e.g., a flashing light or alarm).

[0110]

[0120] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the scenarios described herein with respect to Figure 10 are exemplary only. Many other road configurations, scenarios, and use cases can be covered utilizing the systems and methods of the present disclosure. The hazard represented by vehicle 1008 can be a hazard due to multiple vehicles, traffic congestion, road blocks, road closures, railroad crossings, bridges, etc.

[0111]

[0121] Referring now back to FIG. 6 , an environment-level diagram of a vehicle warning system 300 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown interacting with a third-party system that may provide other types of cloud services to vehicles that may or may not be equipped with the system 300 hardware (i.e., they may or may not be equipped with the setup 100 shown in FIG. 1 or the like). For purposes of illustration, an operating area 600 may be any geographic area in which one or more of the systems shown in FIG. 6 operate. Roads 602 are shown logically but are not to scale or configured as actual roads might be. Roads 602 may represent single-lane roads, entire roads, or entire road networks or systems. While several vehicles 202, 607, 611 are shown, there may be more or fewer vehicles. While several communicative connections are shown as lines with arrowheads for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will understand that these are simplified and that the actual communicative connections may be more complex and numerous than those shown.

[0112]

[0122] The operating area 600 may be divided into several logical areas, shown separated by dashed lines. Physically, the areas may overlap. The vehicle alert system 300 may include an alert management system 302 (which may be a cloud computing system accessible via the Internet 301 or another network). While a single disabled vehicle 202 is shown for illustrative purposes, it should be understood that the alert management system 302 interacts with or tracks multiple vehicles, disabled or otherwise, that report alerts based on any of the principles described herein or otherwise. The vehicles (represented here by vehicle 202) may communicate with the alert management system 302 by any suitable communicative coupling, such as a wireless network, represented by tower 210.

[0113]

[0123] The systems and methods of the present disclosure can equip vehicles to automatically or manually report road hazards or other events to a cloud, such as OEM cloud 603. The OEM cloud may represent a component of the systems and methods of the present disclosure and can provide the vehicle-to-vehicle communication described herein. In some embodiments, the OEM cloud is a service and / or equipment provided by the original vehicle manufacturer, for example, as part of a safety suite. Such a cloud 603 or wireless network can interface with the alert management system 302 of the present disclosure to assist in providing the functionality described herein. In this manner, the systems and methods of the present disclosure can augment other services provided at the OEM level (e.g., general direction finding, convenience services, system updates, etc.) without replacing or superseding them. In FIG. 6, the OEM cloud is shown interacting with the alert management system via the Internet 302, but it should be understood that additional or different communication links or communicative couplings may be used.

[0114]

[0124] The aftermarket cloud services area 604 may include one or more mobile-enabled services, generally shown at 606. These may include, but are not limited to, services such as Google Maps®, Waze®, and Tomtom®. Services that provide mapping information and other data to / from vehicles 607 can benefit from alerts generated by the systems and methods of the present disclosure, even if they only service vehicles 607 that are not directly associated with the alert management system 302. In some cases, the system 100 provided in the vehicle 202 may be configured to provide alerts directly to third-party mobile services, such as the services shown at 606. Additionally, or instead, the alerts may be forwarded to one of these networks for distribution by the alert management system 302. If the networks 606 track vehicles within their area and provide their location information, the emergency alert system 302 may even take such information into account, as described above, when determining which alerts to distribute. This may be indicated by a communication to the service 606 for further distribution. Thus, the systems and methods of the present disclosure can also augment services that may already be available to customers of third-party providers.

[0115]

[0125] Similarly, the vehicle 202 can provide alerts or data to an emergency services cloud system shown at 610. Again, this may be done directly or via the alert management system 302. Alerts from third party systems 606 can also be forwarded to the emergency services system 610. Alerts including location and other data can be provided, for example, to assist ambulance services 611 in dispatching, as well as to assist fire, police, and other emergency response services. Emergency broadcast services can also receive alerts for rebroadcast, sometimes limited to specific areas or roads.

[0116]

[0126] Referring now back to FIG. 5 , a flowchart 500 corresponding to one method of operation of a warning system according to an aspect of the present disclosure is shown. The chart 500 illustrates a potential operational flow when a system according to the present disclosure (e.g., 100, 300) receives a notification that another vehicle has encountered a hazardous condition. In step 502, the system 100 receives a hazard / emergency notification (for clarity, in this context, the vehicle on which the method of the flowchart 500 is performed is receiving a warning generated by and provided by another vehicle, or, for example, from the emergency warning service 302). In step 504, the system obtains its own GPS location data (e.g., from the GPS unit 125). In step 508, the microprocessor 102 can determine whether the GPS location of the warning vehicle included in the warning itself represents a location on its own roadway. For purposes of this disclosure, a roadway is the roadway the receiving vehicle is traveling on, or the side roads, curves, exits, etc. that the vehicle is likely to take, taking into account direction.

[0117]

[0127] If yes (the location of the vehicle issuing the alert is on the road path of the receiving vehicle), then in step 510 the system can further determine whether the broadcasting vehicle is within a threshold that requires immediately alerting the driver or vehicle. The determination may be based on speed limits, time or day of the week, road conditions, etc. For example, alerting a driver of a received hazard alert from another vehicle may be useless when the receiving vehicle is already stopped, parked, or in an adjacent roadway. However, a low-threshold alert (e.g., a non-emergency alert indication inside the vehicle) may still be given.

[0118]

[0128] If the broadcasting vehicle is within the threshold, an appropriate warning (visual and / or audible) may be provided in step 512, both to the driver of the vehicle (e.g., via a CAN bus or other connection) and to the vehicle itself. The warning may be used by the vehicle's automated control systems to shut down cruise control, take other preventative action, or prepare the automated driving system to stop, reroute, etc.

[0119]

[0129] In step 514, a second threshold may be checked to determine if the receiving vehicle itself is currently in or near a dangerous condition. This may be based on location within the roadway from GPS, camera, or other data, overall conditions, proximity to the broadcasting vehicle, and other factors. If system 100 determines in step 514 that this is warranted, the receiving vehicle may activate its own high-visibility visual display system (e.g., strobe indicators or flashers).

[0120]

[0130] If the broadcasting vehicle is not on the receiving vehicle's road path (step 508) and is not within the warning threshold (step 510) or the danger threshold (step 514), the system may determine in step 518 whether the broadcasted warning was nevertheless received from its connected server (e.g., server 302). If not (e.g., the signal was received only directly from the broadcasting vehicle, such as wirelessly, via a light sensor, etc.), the system may forward the hazardous condition warning to its server in step 520. In this way, the broadcasted event becomes available to other vehicles interfaced with server 302 (or other servers connected as described with respect to FIG. 6 ). If the system has deployed its own high-visibility visual display system, this may indicate that the originally broadcasted hazardous condition may have been expanded or propagated, and the system may also report this to the server in step 302.

[0121]

[0131] It should be understood that the terms "comprises," "comprises," and grammatical variations thereof do not exclude the addition of one or more components, features, steps, or integers, or groups thereof, and that these terms should be interpreted as specifying components, features, steps, or integers. It should also be understood that the illustrated and described embodiments may have additional components not shown and are not excluded by their absence. However, other embodiments include only those components explicitly referenced, with other components and functions being therefore excluded. Not all components and steps that would be readily apparent to one skilled in the art and understood to be present are necessarily explicitly described or illustrated.

[0122]

[0132] Operatively connected, communicatively coupled, and similar terms indicate that any suitable structure may exist to provide the described functionality.

[0133] If the specification or claims refer to "additional" elements, it does not exclude the presence of more than one of the additional elements.

[0123]

[0134] When a claim or the specification refers to "an" element, it should be understood that such a reference should not be construed as indicating that there is only one of that element.

[0135] When the specification states that a component, feature, structure, or characteristic "may," "might," "could," or "may" be included, it is understood that the particular component, feature, structure, or characteristic need not be included.

[0124]

[0136] Where applicable, state diagrams, flow diagrams, or both may be used to describe embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to those diagrams or corresponding descriptions. For example, the flow need not move through each illustrated box or state from start to finish or in the exact same order as illustrated and described.

[0125]

[0137] The methods of the present invention may be implemented by performing or completing selected steps or tasks manually, automatically, or a combination thereof.

[0138] The term "method" can refer to methods, means, techniques, and procedures for accomplishing a given task, including, but not limited to, methods, means, techniques, and procedures that are known to a practitioner in the art to which the invention pertains or that are readily developed by a practitioner from known methods, means, techniques, and procedures.

[0126]

[0139] The term "at least" followed by a number is used herein to denote the start of a range starting with that number (which may be a range with an upper limit or an open-ended limit, depending on the variable defined). For example, "at least 1" means 1 or 2 or more. The term "at most" followed by a number is used herein to denote the end of a range ending with that number (which may be a range with 1 or 0 as its lower limit, or a range with no lower limit, depending on the variable defined). For example, "at most 4" means 4 or less than 4, and "at most 40%" means 40% or less than 40%.

[0127]

[0140] In this document, ranges are given as "from (first number) to (second number)" or "from (first number) to (second number)," which means a range whose lower limit is the first number and whose upper limit is the second number. For example, 25 to 100 should be interpreted to mean a range whose lower limit is 25 and whose upper limit is 100. Furthermore, when a range is given, unless the context indicates otherwise, it should be noted that all possible subranges or intervals within that range are specifically contemplated. For example, if a specification states a range from 25 to 100, such range also includes subranges such as 26 to 100, 27 to 100, etc., 25 to 99, 25 to 98, etc., as well as any other possible combination of lower and upper limits within the stated range, e.g., subranges such as 33 to 47, 60 to 97, 41 to 45, 28 to 96, etc. Integer range values ​​are used in this paragraph for illustrative purposes only, and it should be understood that decimal and fractional values ​​(e.g., 46.7 to 91.3) are also intended as endpoints of possible subranges, unless specifically excluded.

[0128]

[0141] It should be noted that when reference is made herein to a method that includes two or more defined steps, the defined steps may be performed in any order or simultaneously (unless the context excludes this possibility), and that the method may also include one or more other steps that may be performed before any of the defined steps, between two of the defined steps, or after all of the defined steps (unless the context excludes this possibility).

[0129]

[0142] Furthermore, it should be noted that approximation terms (e.g., "about," "substantially," "approximately," etc.) should be interpreted according to their ordinary and customary meaning as used in the relevant art, unless otherwise indicated herein. Unless specifically defined within this disclosure and in the absence of ordinary and customary usage in the relevant art, such terms should be interpreted as being plus or minus 10% of the base value.

[0130]

[0143] Thus, the present invention is well adapted to carry out the objects and attain the ends and advantages mentioned above, as well as those inherent therein. Although the device of the present invention has been described and illustrated herein by reference to certain preferred embodiments in connection with the accompanying drawings, various changes and further modifications, aside from what is shown or suggested herein, may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the inventive concept and its scope, which is to be determined by the following claims.

Claims

1. 1. A system for communicating warnings to and from a passenger vehicle, comprising: a microprocessor within the vehicle that receives an indication of a hazardous event associated with the first passenger vehicle and generates an alert in response; a transmitter used by the microprocessor to wirelessly transmit the alert to a safety alert system that transmits the alert to one or more additional passenger vehicles determined to be within an approach zone to the location where the microprocessor received the indication of the hazardous event; and A system comprising:

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the unsafe event comprises an indication that the first passenger vehicle is not safely operable.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the hazardous event includes an indication of damage to the passenger vehicle.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the indication of the hazardous event originates from a passenger vehicle safety system.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the indication of the hazardous event comes from an occupant of the passenger vehicle.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the alert includes data corresponding to the location of the passenger vehicle.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the alert includes data corresponding to an orientation of the passenger vehicle.

8. 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the microprocessor generates and transmits a further alert containing further information related to the hazardous event to the safety alert system via the transmitter.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the transmitter is a radio frequency transmitter.

10. providing a safety alert server in communication with a plurality of passenger vehicles; receiving, at the safety alert server, from a first vehicle of the plurality of vehicles, an indication that the first vehicle has encountered a hazard and a location of the first vehicle; obtaining, at the safety warning server, position and orientation information from at least some of the plurality of passenger vehicles other than the first passenger vehicle of the plurality of passenger vehicles; determining, at the safety alert server, whether any of the at least some of the plurality of passenger vehicles other than the first vehicle of the plurality of passenger vehicles is within a predetermined distance of the first vehicle of the plurality of passenger vehicles and heading toward the first vehicle, and if so, transmitting an alert to such vehicle of the at least some of the plurality of passenger vehicles other than the first vehicle of the plurality of passenger vehicles; A method comprising:

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising the step of delivering the alert over the Internet.

12. The method of claim 10 further comprising the step of wirelessly delivering the alert.

13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising transmitting the alert from the safety alert server to a cloud computing platform.

14. The method of claim 10 further comprising transmitting the alert from the safety alert server to an emergency response service.

15. receiving, at the safety alert server, an indication of a hazard at a fixed location that is not emanating from a passenger vehicle; determining, at the safety alert server, whether any of the at least some of the plurality of passenger vehicles are within a predetermined distance of the fixed location and heading toward the fixed location, and if so, sending a notification to such passenger vehicles of the at least some of the plurality of passenger vehicles; The method of claim 10 further comprising:

16. acquiring, at the safety alert server, driving characteristic data from at least a subset of the plurality of passenger vehicles; determining, by the safety warning server, an estimated hazard location based on the received driving characteristic data; transmitting a warning from the safety warning server to at least one of the plurality of passenger vehicles whose heading is in the direction of the estimated danger location; 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

17. a first microprocessor in the first passenger vehicle; a safety warning system communicatively coupled to the first microprocessor; A system comprising: the first microprocessor providing location data regarding the vehicle to the safety warning system; the safety alert system sending an inbound safety alert to the first microprocessor when the location data indicates that the first passenger vehicle is approaching a safety hazard; system.

18. 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the safety warning system is notified of the safety hazard by a second passenger vehicle to which it is communicatively coupled.

19. 20. The system of claim 17, wherein the first microprocessor issues a command to the vehicle to shut off driver assistance features and provide a notification to a driver of the vehicle when the inbound safety alert is received.

20. 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the first microprocessor is communicatively coupled to a safety system of the first passenger vehicle and transmits an outbound alert to the safety alert system in response to an indication of a vehicle safety hazard.

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