Patent Issued for Accident fault determination for autonomous vehicles (USPTO 11062395)

2021 JUL 29 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- From Alexandria, Virginia, NewsRx journalists report that a patent by the inventors Christensen, Scott T. (Salem, OR, US), Farris, Scott (Bloomington, IL, US), Hayward, Gregory (Bloomington, IL, US), Konrardy, Blake (San Francisco, CA, US), filed on August 29, 2017, was published online on July 13, 2021.

The patent’s assignee for patent number 11062395 is State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (Bloomington, Illinois, United States).

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Vehicle or automobile insurance exists to provide financial protection against physical damage and/or bodily injury resulting from traffic accidents and against liability that could arise therefrom. Typically, a customer purchases a vehicle insurance policy for a policy rate having a specified term. In exchange for payments from the insured customer, the insurer pays for damages to the insured which are caused by covered perils, acts, or events as specified by the language of the insurance policy. The payments from the insured are generally referred to as “premiums,” and typically are paid on behalf of the insured over time at periodic intervals. An insurance policy may remain “in-force” while premium payments are made during the term or length of coverage of the policy as indicated in the policy. An insurance policy may “lapse” (or have a status or state of “lapsed”), for example, when premium payments are not being paid or if the insured or the insurer cancels the policy.

“Premiums may be typically determined based upon a selected level of insurance coverage, location of vehicle operation, vehicle model, and characteristics or demographics of the vehicle operator. The characteristics of a vehicle operator that affect premiums may include age, years operating vehicles of the same class, prior incidents involving vehicle operation, and losses reported by the vehicle operator to the insurer or a previous insurer. Past and current premium determination methods do not, however, account for use of autonomous vehicle operating features. The present embodiments may, inter alia, alleviate this and/or other drawbacks associated with conventional techniques.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “The present embodiments may be related to autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle functionality, including driverless operation, accident avoidance, or collision warning systems. These autonomous vehicle operation features may either assist the vehicle operator to more safely or efficiently operate a vehicle or may take full control of vehicle operation under some or all circumstances. The present embodiments may also facilitate risk assessment and premium determination for vehicle insurance policies covering vehicles with autonomous operation features.

“In accordance with the described embodiments, the disclosure herein generally addresses systems and methods for determining accident fault for a vehicle accident involving an insured vehicle having one or more autonomous (and/or semi-autonomous) operation features. An on-board computer or mobile device may monitor and record vehicle operating and/or performance data, including sensor data and data from the one or more autonomous operation features. A server may receive the operating and/or performance data and may process this data to determine the cause of and/or fault for the accident. These fault determination may then be used to determine coverage levels associated with an insurance policy associated with the vehicle and/or an adjustment to risk levels associated with the autonomous operation features.

“In one aspect, a computer-implemented method for determining accident fault may be provided. The computer-implemented method may include receiving performance data associated with one or more autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle technologies of an insured vehicle involved in a vehicle accident, analyzing the performance data received, determining based upon, at least in part (i.e., wholly or partially), the analyzed performance data, (1) a first percentage of fault for the vehicle accident associated with an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle technology of the insured vehicle in operation at a time of the vehicle accident and/or (2) a second percentage of fault for the vehicle accident associated with an insured driver who was driving the insured vehicle at the time of the vehicle accident, determining an adjustment to the insurance policy based upon, at least in part (i.e., wholly or partially), the determined first and second percentages of fault, and/or causing the adjustment to the insurance policy to be implemented. The adjustment to the insurance policy may include one or more of generating, updating, or adjusting one or more of the following: a premium, a rate, a discount, a reward, a deductible, or a limit. The method may include additional, fewer, or alternate actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

“In another aspect, a computer system for determining accident fault may be provided. The computer system may include one or more processors, one or more communication modules adapted to communicate data, and a non-transitory program memory coupled to the one or more processors and storing executable instructions. The executable instruction may, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computer system to receive performance data associated with one or more autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle technologies of an insured vehicle involved in a vehicle accident via the one or more communication modules, analyze the performance data received, determine (based at least in part upon the analyzed performance data) (1) a first percentage of fault for the vehicle accident associated with an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle technology of the insured vehicle in operation at a time of the vehicle accident and/or (2) a second percentage of fault for the vehicle accident associated with an insured driver who was driving the insured vehicle at the time of the vehicle accident, determine an adjustment to the insurance policy based upon the determined first and second percentages of fault, and/or cause the adjustment to the insurance policy to be implemented. The adjustment to the insurance policy may include one or more of generating, updating, or adjusting one or more of the following: a premium, a rate, a discount, a reward, a deductible, or a limit. Additionally, the autonomous operation features may include one or more autonomous communication features, in which case the operating data may include communication data from external sources. The system may include additional, fewer, or alternate actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

“In yet another aspect, a tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for determining accident fault may be provided. The instructions may, when executed by at least one processor of a computer system, cause the computer system to receive performance data associated with one or more autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle technologies of an insured vehicle involved in a vehicle accident, analyze the performance data received, determine (based at least in part upon the analyzed performance data) (1) a first percentage of fault for the vehicle accident associated with an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle technology of the insured vehicle in operation at a time of the vehicle accident and/or (2) a second percentage of fault for the vehicle accident associated with an insured driver who was driving the insured vehicle at the time of the vehicle accident, determine an adjustment to the insurance policy based upon the determined first and second percentages of fault, and/or cause the adjustment to the insurance policy to be implemented. The adjustment to the insurance policy may include one or more of generating, updating, or adjusting one or more of the following: a premium, a rate, a discount, a reward, a deductible, or a limit. Additionally, the autonomous operation features may include one or more autonomous communication features, in which case the operating data may include communication data from external sources. The instructions of the computer-readable medium may include additional, fewer, or alternate actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A computer-implemented method for automatically evaluating vehicle operation to detect occurrence of a collision and determine fault, the method comprising: monitoring, by one or more processors during a vehicle trip including the collision, operation of a vehicle having one or more autonomous operation features for controlling the vehicle; recording, in a memory, a plurality of data entries of operating data regarding the monitored operation of the vehicle at a plurality of times during the vehicle trip obtained from an on-board computer of the vehicle, wherein each data entry of the operating data includes (i) sensor data from one or more sensors disposed within the vehicle and (ii) use data regarding control of the vehicle by the one or more autonomous operation features, including information regarding use levels of each of the one or more autonomous operation features at the plurality of times during the vehicle trip including the accident and information regarding control decisions generated by the one or more autonomous operation features and implemented by the one or more autonomous operation features to control the vehicle at the plurality of times during the vehicle trip; identifying, automatically by the one or more processors, at least one autonomous operation feature of the one or more autonomous operation features that was operating to control the vehicle at a time of the collision based upon the operating data; analyzing, automatically by the one or more processors, the sensor data in the plurality of data entries to determine conditions in the vehicle environment during a time interval prior to and including the time of the collision; determining, automatically by the one or more processors, that the conditions in the vehicle environment during the time interval were inadequate for operation of the at least one autonomous operation feature based upon the sensor data of the corresponding data entries; analyzing, automatically by the one or more processors, the use data in the data entries of the time interval to attempt to identify a data entry indicating an attempt by the at least one autonomous operation feature to pass control to the driver; determining, automatically by the one or more processors, that at least one of the following control transfer failures occurred prior to the collision: (i) the at least one autonomous operation feature failed to attempt to pass control to a driver within the vehicle prior to the collision, determined by detecting a failure to identify at least one data entry indicating an attempt by the at least one autonomous operation feature to pass control to the driver prior to a time of the collision, or (ii) the at least one autonomous operation feature failed to provide sufficient time to transfer control of the vehicle during an attempt to pass control to the driver prior to the collision, determined by calculating a time elapsed between the data entry identified as indicating a first identified attempt by the at least one autonomous operation feature to pass control to the driver during the time interval and the time of the collision is below a threshold period for control transfers; determining, automatically by the one or more processors, the following based upon the operating data and the determined occurrence of at least one of the control transfer failures: (1) a first percentage of fault for the collision associated with the at least one autonomous operation feature; and (2) a second percentage of fault for the collision associated with the driver; and generating, automatically by the one or more processors, a report including information regarding the determined allocation of fault.

“2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the conditions in the vehicle environment at the time of the collision include one or more of the following: fog or manual traffic direction.

“3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the threshold period for control transfers corresponds to a minimum time interval that is adequate for an alert driver to resume control of a vehicle.

“4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein: the report further includes information regarding a cause of the collision; and generating the report includes generating the following information regarding the cause of the collision: a summary of at least a portion of the sensor data, images associated with the collision, or video associated with the collision.

“5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, automatically by the one or more processors, an adjustment to one or more risk levels associated with the at least one autonomous operation feature based at least in part upon the determined first percentage of fault; and adjusting, automatically by the one or more processors, one or more risk levels associated with an insurance policy associated with another autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle having the at least one autonomous operation feature based upon the determined adjustment.

“6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, automatically by the one or more processors, an adjustment to an insurance policy associated with the vehicle based at least in part upon the determined first and second percentages of fault; and causing, by the one or more processors, the adjustment to the insurance policy to be implemented.

“7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, further comprising: determining, automatically by the one or more processors, based at least in part upon the operating data: (3) a third percentage of fault for the collision associated with one or more other vehicles involved in the collision, wherein the adjustment to the insurance policy associated with the vehicle is further determined based at least in part upon the determined third percentage of fault.

“8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, automatically by the one or more processors, the occurrence of the collision based upon the operating data.

“9. A computer system for automatically evaluating vehicle operation to detect occurrence of a collision and determine fault, comprising: one or more processors; and a non-transitory program memory coupled to the one or more processors and storing executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computer system to: monitor, during a vehicle trip including the collision, operation of a vehicle having one or more autonomous operation features for controlling the vehicle; record a plurality of data entries of operating data regarding the monitored operation of the vehicle at a plurality of times during the vehicle trip obtained from an on-board computer of the vehicle, wherein each data entry of the operating data includes (i) sensor data from one or more sensors disposed within the vehicle and (ii) use data regarding control of the vehicle by the one or more autonomous operation features, including information regarding use levels of each of the one or more autonomous operation features at the plurality of times during the vehicle trip including the accident and information regarding control decisions generated by the one or more autonomous operation features and implemented by the one or more autonomous operation features to control the vehicle at the plurality of times during the vehicle trip; identify at least one autonomous operation feature of the one or more autonomous operation features that was operating to control the vehicle at a time of the collision based upon the operating data; analyze the sensor data in the plurality of data entries to determine conditions in the vehicle environment during a time interval prior to and including the time of the collision; determine that the conditions in the vehicle environment during the time interval were inadequate for operation of the at least one autonomous operation feature based upon the sensor data of the corresponding data entries; analyze the use data in the data entries of the time interval to attempt to identify a data entry indicating an attempt by the at least one autonomous operation feature to pass control to the driver; determine that at least one of the following control transfer failures occurred prior to the collision: (i) the at least one autonomous operation feature failed to attempt to pass control to a driver within the vehicle prior to the collision, determined by detecting a failure to identify at least one data entry indicating an attempt by the at least one autonomous operation feature to pass control to the driver prior to a time of the collision, or (ii) the at least one autonomous operation feature failed to provide sufficient time to transfer control of the vehicle during an attempt to pass control to the driver prior to the collision, determined by calculating a time elapsed between the data entry identified as indicating a first identified attempt by the at least one autonomous operation feature to pass control to the driver during the time interval and the time of the collision is below a threshold period for control transfers; determine the following based upon the operating data and the determined occurrence of at least one of the control transfer failures: (1) a first percentage of fault for the collision associated with the at least one autonomous operation feature; and (2) a second percentage of fault for the collision associated with the driver; and generate, a report including information regarding the determined allocation of fault.

“10. The computer system of claim 9, wherein the threshold period for control transfers corresponds to a minimum time interval that is adequate for an alert driver to resume control of a vehicle.”

There are additional claims. Please visit full patent to read further.

For additional information on this patent, see: Christensen, Scott T. Accident fault determination for autonomous vehicles. U.S. Patent Number 11062395, filed August 29, 2017, and published online on July 13, 2021. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=11062395.PN.&OS=PN/11062395RS=PN/11062395

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