Patent Issued for Utilizing vehicle telematics to detect, evaluate, and respond to driving behaviors (USPTO 11878700): Allstate Insurance Company

2024 FEB 09 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent by the inventors Bischoff, Christine L. (La Grange, IL, US), Maday, David (Buffalo Grove, IL, US), filed on September 2, 2022, was published online on January 23, 2024, according to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx correspondents.

Patent number 11878700 is assigned to Allstate Insurance Company (Northbrook, Illinois, United States).

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Insurance coverage for vehicles has become more complicated than in the past due to the changing nature in which people use vehicles. For example, a vehicle may be used for personal use or for ride sharing. Additionally, an owner of a vehicle may share the vehicle with a third party. Each type of vehicle use may carry different risks. And thus different types and scopes of insurance coverage may be demanded. The use of a vehicle for different purposes may be a fluid, continual flow back and forth between different types of use. For example, a vehicle owner may participate in a ride sharing service, utilizing the vehicle for both personal use and to provide transit services for others. The vehicle owner may alternate between being for hire and not for hire during a single driving session. As another example, the vehicle owner may participate in a vehicle sharing service, renting the vehicle to third parties that utilize the vehicle for personal use and/or ride sharing services. From the perspective of insurance companies, there remains a challenge to determine how a vehicle is being used at any given moment and what the corresponding scope of insurance coverage should be for that use. Furthermore, some current insurance customers may desire policies that provide coverage on an as-needed basis, i.e., only when the vehicle is in use.

“Moreover, insurance risks may vary from driver to driver based on driving habits. Some drivers may be considered to be “good” drivers by exhibiting safe driving behaviors, while other drivers may be considered to be “bad” drivers by exhibiting risky driving behaviors (e.g., speeding, fast acceleration, hard braking, sharp turns, etc.). From the perspective of insurance companies, there remains the challenge to detect driving behaviors such that the degrees of the risks may be reflected in the cost of insurance coverage (e.g., lower costs for “good” drivers). Vehicle telematics technology may be leveraged to address these challenges.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosure. The summary is not an extensive overview of the disclosure. It is neither intended to identify key or critical elements of the disclosure nor to delineate the scope of the disclosure. The following summary merely presents some concepts of the disclosure in a simplified form as a prelude to the description below.

“Aspects of the disclosure relate to using vehicle telematics to detect, evaluate, and respond to driving behaviors. A vehicle telematics device may generate vehicle telematics information that characterizes the operation of a vehicle by a driver. For example, the vehicle telematics information may characterize various driving behaviors of the driver during a trip in a vehicle. Such driving behaviors may include speed, acceleration, turning, and braking. The vehicle telematics information may also characterize aspects of a trip in the vehicle. Such aspects of the trip may include distance traveled, duration, and location. These aspects of the trip may correspond to a particular segment of the trip or the entire trip. The vehicle telematics information may also characterize the purpose of the trip. Such purposes may include use of the vehicle for personal use, for ride sharing purposes, or vehicle sharing purposes. The vehicle telematics information may also indicate the number of passengers in the vehicle during the trip.

“The driving behaviors observed during a trip may be evaluated and characterized as “good”/“positive” driving behaviors or “bad”/“negative” driving behaviors. For example, “good”/“positive” driving behaviors may include driving at speeds that meet specified speed limits as well as smooth and controlled acceleration, turning, and braking that meet respective inertial thresholds. Similarly, “bad”/“negative” driving behaviors may include excessive vehicle speeds as well as harsh acceleration, turning, or braking, e.g., those that exceed inertial thresholds.

“The driving behaviors may be observed for multiple trips in the vehicle and across multiple observation periods. A rate to charge a driver may be based on the driving behaviors observed during an evaluation period. The evaluation period may include one or more observation periods, e.g., a series of contiguous observation periods or a set of individual observation periods. The determined rate to charge the driver may apply to one or more observation periods, e.g., a completed observation period or an upcoming observation period. The rate to charge a driver may fluctuate across observation periods based on the driving behaviors observed across those observation periods. For example, the driver may be charged a relatively lower rate based on observing “good”/“positive” driving behaviors. Likewise, the driver may be charged a relatively higher rate based on observing “bad”/“negative” driving behaviors.

“The rate to charge the driver may be selected from a range of rates associated with a driver. For example, the rate to charge the driver may be selected from the lower end of the range based on observing “good”/“positive” driving behaviors or from the higher end of the range based on observing “bad”/“negative” driving behaviors. Multiple ranges of rates may be associated with the driver. For example, one range of rates may be used to determine the rate to charge the driver for personal use of the vehicle while another range of rates may be used to determine the rate to charge the driver based on the use of the vehicle in a ride sharing or vehicle sharing scenario.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A system comprising: one or more processors; and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to: receive an indication to initiate a driving session as a personal use driving session for a vehicle; activate a sharing status associated with the vehicle; receive vehicle operation data characterizing operation of the vehicle during the driving session; determine a quantity of driving segments traveled during one or more periods of the driving session, at least one period being defined by the sharing status; generate a communication, the communication sent to a dynamic pricing platform and comprising the sharing status, the quantity of driving segments, and the vehicle operation data, the communication causing the dynamic pricing platform to: determine an amount to charge a driver of the vehicle responsive to informing the dynamic pricing platform; and send, to at least a computing device associated with the driver, an indication of the amount.

“2. The system of claim 1, wherein determining the amount to charge the driver includes determining a first rate associated with the personal use driving session and a second rate associated with activating the sharing status.

“3. The system of claim 2, wherein determining the amount to charge the driver includes applying the first rate to one or more first driving segments associated with the personal use driving session, and applying a second rate to one or more second driving segments associated with the sharing status.

“4. The system of claim 1, wherein receiving the vehicle operation data includes communicating with a telematics device of the vehicle to receive telematics data collected using one or more sensors of the vehicle.

“5. The system of claim 1, wherein receiving the vehicle operation data includes communicating with an on-board vehicle system.

“6. The system of claim 1, wherein receiving the vehicle operation data includes communicating with a mobile device associated with the driver to receive location data.

“7. The system of claim 1, wherein receiving the vehicle operation data includes communicating with a third-party application.

“8. The system of claim 7, wherein the third-party application is a ride or vehicle sharing application operating on at least one of a an on-board vehicle system or a mobile device associated with the driver.

“9. A computer-implemented method comprising: initiating a driving session for a vehicle; activating a sharing status for the driving session associated with the vehicle; receiving vehicle operation data characterizing operation of the vehicle during the driving session; determining a quantity of driving segments traveled during one or more periods of the driving session, at least one period being associated with the sharing status; determining an amount to charge a driver of the vehicle responsive to informing a dynamic pricing platform of the sharing status, the quantity of driving segments, and the vehicle operation data; and sending, to at least a computing device associated with the driver, an indication of the amount.

“10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein determining the amount to charge the driver includes determining: a first rate associated with at least one personal use period of the driving session, and a second rate associated with at least one shared use period of the driving session.

“11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, further comprising: receiving, for at least a second period of the one or more periods, an indication of a ride sharing status of the vehicle; and determining an insurance rate for at least the second period based on the ride sharing status, the amount to charge the driver is determined further based on the insurance rate.

“12. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, further comprising: receiving, for at least a second period of the one or more periods, an indication of a ride sharing phase of the vehicle; and determining an insurance rate for at least the second period based on the ride sharing phase, the amount to charge the driver is determined further based on the insurance rate.

“13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the ride sharing phase includes at least one of an idle phase, a passenger acquisition phase, or an on route phase.

“14. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, further comprising: receiving, for at least a second period of the one or more periods, an indication of a vehicle sharing status of the vehicle; and determining an insurance rate for at least the second period based on the vehicle sharing status, the amount to charge the driver is determined further based on the insurance rate.

“15. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, further comprising: receiving, for at least a second period of the one or more periods, an indication of an autonomous operation status of the vehicle; and determining an insurance rate for at least the second period further based on the autonomous operation status, wherein the amount to charge the driver is determined further based on the insurance rate.

“16. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the driving session includes a first period having a first duration and comprising a plurality of second periods having second durations shorter than the first duration, and the vehicle operation data includes for at least one second period of the plurality of second periods, an indication of a quantity of driving segments traveled during the at least one second period, the at least one second period being associated with the sharing status.

“17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions, which when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: determine a driving session for a vehicle is initiated; activate a sharing status for the driving session associated with the vehicle; receive vehicle operation data characterizing operation of the vehicle during the driving session; determine a quantity of driving segments traveled during one or more periods of the driving session, at least one period being associated with the sharing status; determine an amount to charge a driver of the vehicle responsive to informing a dynamic pricing platform of the sharing status, the quantity of driving segments, and the vehicle operation data; and send, to at least a computing device associated with the driver, an indication of the amount.

“18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein: the one or more periods include a first period associated with personal use and a second period associated with a ride sharing status; the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to receive, for the second period and from the driver, an indication of the ride sharing status of the vehicle; and the amount to charge the driver is further based on receiving the indication of the ride sharing status.

“19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein: the one or more periods include a first period associated with personal use and a second period associated with a vehicle sharing status; the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to receive, for the second period and from the driver, an indication of the vehicle sharing status of the vehicle; and the amount to charge the driver is further based on receiving the indication of the vehicle sharing status.

“20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein: the one or more periods include a first period associated with personal use and a second period associated with an autonomous operation status; the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to receive, for the second period, an indication of the autonomous operation status of the vehicle; and the amount to charge the driver is further based on receiving the indication of the autonomous operation status.”

URL and more information on this patent, see: Bischoff, Christine L. Utilizing vehicle telematics to detect, evaluate, and respond to driving behaviors. U.S. Patent Number 11878700, filed September 2, 2022, and published online on January 23, 2024. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11878700)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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