Patent Issued for Driver identity detection and alerts (USPTO 11816737): Allstate Insurance Company

2023 DEC 06 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Allstate Insurance Company (Northbrook, Illinois, United States) has been issued patent number 11816737, according to news reporting originating out of Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx editors.

The patent’s inventors are Robare, Philip (Chicago, IL, US).

This patent was filed on May 18, 2021 and was published online on November 14, 2023.

From the background information supplied by the inventors, news correspondents obtained the following quote: “Modes of transportation (e.g., train, bus, airplane, etc.) are becoming more and more sophisticated and inter-connected. In some cases, it may be beneficial to create systems for monitoring travelers in order to increase driver safety. As such, new systems, methods, and devices may be desired for optimizing driver performance and safety.”

Supplementing the background information on this patent, NewsRx reporters also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “In light of the foregoing background, the following presents a simplified summary of the present disclosure in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention. It is not intended to identify key or critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. The following summary merely presents some concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description provided below.

“Aspects of the disclosure address one or more of the issues mentioned above by disclosing computerized methods, systems, devices, and apparatuses for determining the insurance status for a traveler. For example, an insurance status determination system may determine an insurance status for a traveler based on data collected during any form of travel (e.g., car, train, bus, airplane, etc.), in which a traveler may be a driver of a vehicle, a passenger in a vehicle, or a passenger in any mode of transportation (e.g., a bus, a train, airplane, spacecraft, etc.). In some arrangements, the insurance status determination system may notify the traveler if there is some issue with an insurance policy associated with the traveler. The insurance status determination system may also instigate some form of remedial action, such as prompting the traveler to renew a lapsed policy.

“In some instances, the insurance status determination system may determine the insurance statuses of nearby travelers (e.g., nearby drivers). The insurance status determination system may inform the traveler of underinsured nearby travelers, and provide options to take remedial action (such as taking an alternate route or opting into a limited-time insurance policy to cover additional risk).

“Of course, the methods and systems of the above-referenced embodiments may also include other additional elements, steps, computer-executable instructions or computer-readable data structures. In this regard, other embodiments are disclosed and claimed herein as well. The details of these and other embodiments of the present invention are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description, drawings, and claims.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A system comprising: a server computer, comprising a first processor and first memory, the server computer configured to: receive, from a mobile device associated with a first driver of a first vehicle, an indication that the first driver has selected a first route via a navigation system of the first vehicle; collect identification information corresponding to a plurality of travelers each associated with one of a plurality of vehicles, wherein the plurality of vehicles is associated with the first route; aggregate, based on the collected identification information, insurance status information corresponding to the plurality of travelers; determine, based on the aggregated insurance status information, that the first route is associated with a risk above a maximum risk threshold; send, to the mobile device, and based on the determining, a first message comprising a first instruction that imposes at least one driving limitation based on insurance status information for the first driver, the at least one driving limitation controlling operation of the first vehicle; send, to the mobile device, a request to prompt the first driver to purchase a temporary insurance policy associated with exceeding the maximum risk threshold, the request causing the mobile device to display a pop-up notification for the first driver to select an option regarding purchasing the temporary insurance policy; receive, from the mobile device, an acceptance of the request in response to the mobile device receiving a response to the pop-up notification indicating acceptance of the temporary insurance policy; and send, to the mobile device and based on the acceptance of the request, a second message comprising a second instruction that removes the at least one driving limitation.

“2. The system of claim 1, wherein the server computer is further configured to: transmit, to the mobile device, a second request to select a second route with a risk below the maximum risk threshold.

“3. The system of claim 1, wherein the server computer is further configured to: determine, based on the indication, insurance status information for the first driver; and determine, based on the insurance status information for the first driver, that the first driver is underinsured, wherein the temporary insurance policy will temporarily rectify the first driver being underinsured.

“4. The system of claim 1, wherein the server computer is further configured to: update, based on the acceptance of the request, an insurance status for the first driver.

“5. The system of claim 1, wherein the server computer is further configured to: determine, based on determining an insurance status for the first driver, the maximum risk threshold.

“6. The system of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is further configured to: present the aggregated insurance status information.

“7. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of vehicles is located in a pre-determined vicinity of the first vehicle.

“8. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one driving limitation comprises a maximum speed for the first route.

“9. The system of claim 1, wherein the server computer is further configured to: receive, from the navigation system of the first vehicle, travelling data.

“10. A server computer comprising: at least one processor; a network interface configured to communicate, via a network, with a mobile device associated with a first driver of a first vehicle; and a memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the server computer to: receive, from the mobile device, an indication that the first driver has selected a first route; collect identification information corresponding to a plurality of travelers each associated with one of a plurality of vehicles, wherein the plurality of vehicles is associated with the first route; aggregate, based on the collected identification information, insurance status information corresponding to the plurality of travelers; determine, based on the aggregated insurance status information, that the first route is associated with a risk above a maximum risk threshold; send, to the mobile device, and based on the determining, a first message comprising a first instruction that imposes at least one driving limitation based on insurance status information for the first driver, the at least one driving limitation controlling operation of the first vehicle, and send, to the mobile device, a request to the first driver to purchase a temporary insurance policy associated with exceeding the maximum risk threshold; receive, from the mobile device, an acceptance of the request and send, to the mobile device and based on the acceptance of the request, a second message comprising a second instruction that removes the at least one driving limitation.

“11. The server computer of claim 10, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the server computer to: transmit, to the mobile device, a second request to select a second route with a risk below the maximum risk threshold.

“12. The server computer of claim 10, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the server computer to: determine, based on the indication, insurance status information for the first driver; and determine, based on the insurance status information for the first driver, that the first driver is underinsured, wherein the temporary insurance policy will temporarily rectify the first driver being underinsured.

“13. The server computer of claim 10, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the server computer to: update, based on the acceptance of the request, an insurance status information for the first driver.

“14. The server computer of claim 10, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the server computer to: determine, based on determining an insurance status for the first driver, the maximum risk threshold.

“15. A mobile device comprising: at least one processor; a network interface configured to communicate, via a network, with a server computer; and a memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the mobile device to: receive, from the server computer, a notification that a first driver of a first vehicle is underinsured; receive, via a navigation system of the first vehicle, a selection of a first route; send, to the server computer, an indication that the first driver has selected the first route; receive, from the server computer, a first message comprising a first instruction that imposes at least one driving limitation based on insurance status information for the first driver, the at least one driving limitation controlling operation of the first vehicle and receive, from the server computer, a request to prompt the first driver to purchase a temporary insurance policy associated with the first route having a risk above a maximum risk threshold, wherein the temporary insurance policy will temporarily rectify the first driver being underinsured; display, in response to the request, a pop-up notification for the first driver to select an option regarding purchasing the temporary insurance policy; receive a response to the pop-up notification indicating acceptance of the temporary insurance policy; send, to the server computer and based on the response, an acceptance of the request; and receive, from the server computer and based on the acceptance of the request, a second message comprising a second instruction that removes the at least one driving limitation.

“16. The mobile device of claim 15, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the server computer to: receive, from the server computer, a second request to select a second route with a risk below the maximum risk threshold.

“17. The mobile device of claim 15, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the server computer to: present an aggregated insurance status information for a plurality of vehicles located in a pre-determined vicinity of the first vehicle.

“18. The mobile device of claim 15, wherein the at least one driving limitation comprises a maximum risk speed for the first route.”

For the URL and additional information on this patent, see: Robare, Philip. Driver identity detection and alerts. U.S. Patent Number 11816737, filed May 18, 2021, and published online on November 14, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11816737)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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