System and Method for Estimation of Vehicle Accident Damage and Repair

Abstract

Described herein is a system and method for predicting the extent and cost of repair resulting from a vehicle accident. The estimates can be based on one or more of in-vehicle sensor measurements during the accident, external observations such as weather and traffic and road conditions, and manually or digitally input accident reports. The gathered information is compared to information in a database from historical accidents and the resulting damage and costs for those. The information is classified according to impact force, direction and location along with the specific type of vehicle. Maintaining and refreshing the information and predictive models in the system is also part of the invention.

It is claimed: 
     
         1 . A system for vehicle accident damage and repair estimation, comprising:
 one or more in-vehicle sensors configured to collect information during a timeframe encompassing an accident, said collected information including at least information indicative of strength of an impact on the vehicle, zone of the impact, and direction of the impact occurring during said timeframe;   an in-vehicle transceiver configured to transmit at least one of the collected information and derivatives of the collected information;   a historical accident database which contains cross-referenced entries for one or more of:
 vehicle type and equipment configuration, 
 vehicle age, 
 vehicle condition, 
 accident type, 
 accident severity, 
 location of accident, 
 vehicle impact zone, force and direction, 
 time of accident, 
 vehicle parts replaced and repaired, 
 materials needed for repair, 
 labor costs and material costs to effect repairs, and 
 sensor data and derivative products of sensor data recorded for each accident; 
   an accident review module configured to:
 receive the information from said in-vehicle sensors via said in-vehicle transceiver; 
 classify the accident type and severity based on similar entries in the historical accident database; and 
 generate a damage and repair estimate based on the comparison to similar entries. 
   
     
     
         2 . A system for vehicle accident damage and repair estimation, comprising:
 a data collection module configured to collect information about an accident;   a historical accident database which contains cross-referenced entries for at least:
 vehicle unique identification number, 
 location of prior accidents, 
 vehicle impact zone, force and direction for prior accidents, 
 time of prior accidents, 
 past vehicle parts replaced and repairs, 
 and 
 sensor data and derivative products of sensor data recorded by the data collection module for each accident; and 
   an accident review module configured to:
 receive the information from the data collection module via the communication module, 
 classify the accident type and severity based on similar entries in the historical accident database, and 
 generate a damage and repair estimate based on the comparison to similar entries. 
   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the data collection module is in-vehicle and wherein the collected information comprises information from one or more in-vehicle sensors during a timeframe encompassing the accident. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 an in-vehicle transceiver capable of transmitting at least one of the collected information and derivatives of the collected information to the accident review module that is external to the vehicle.   
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 a repair parts database which has cross-referenced entries including:
 location of each part; 
 applicable vehicles; 
 availability of each part; and 
 cost of each part; 
 wherein an estimate is generated for time and cost of repair based on the identified type and severity of the accident and the availability of parts in the vicinity of the accident. 
   
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the accident damage and repair estimate is transmitted to a mobile device or other device in possession of at least one of an insurance adjuster, an emergency responder and other authorized personnel. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the in-vehicle transceiver is further capable of receiving the accident damage and repair information from the accident review module. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , further comprising an in-vehicle display screen wherein the accident damage and repair information received by the in-vehicle transceiver are displayed on the display screen. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the data collection module comprises at least one of an application on a mobile device operated by an on-scene individual at the accident and manual data collection by an on-scene individual. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the historical accident database comprises information compiled from a plurality of historical accident reports. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the historical database comprises information compiled from in-vehicle sensors measurements for a plurality of accidents and derivatives thereof. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein:
 said data collection module comprises in-vehicle sensors for determining at least strength of an impact, zone of an impact on the vehicle and direction of an impact; and   the classification of the accident type and severity is, at least in part, in terms of impact zones, direction of impact and force of impact.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the classification of the accident type and severity is configured for use at least in part to determine fault when the accident is a two car collision. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein additional information is collected from at least one of sensors external to the vehicle, web services, and other observations external to the vehicle. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the historical database comprises information collected from at least one of sensors external to the vehicle, web services, and other observations external to the vehicle. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the damage and repair estimate includes a range of estimates and a statistical probability for the validity of the range or intervals within the range. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the historical accident database is continually updated by at least one of:
 adding newer accident data;   removing data from older accidents;   replacing more qualitative data with more quantitative data;   replacing manually entered data with sensor data and sensor derived information;   updating the predictive models based on the new data; and   updating metadata associated with the quality of input data and the predictive model.   
     
     
         18 . A non-transitory computer readable medium, including instructions stored thereon which when read and executed by one or more computer processors cause the one or more computer processors to perform the steps of:
 implement a data collection module configured to collect information about an accident including at least information indicative of strength of an impact on the vehicle, zone of the impact, and direction of the impact occurring during an accident;   implement a historical accident database which contains cross-referenced entries for one or more of:   vehicle type and equipment configuration,   vehicle age,   vehicle condition,   accident type,   accident severity,   location of accident,   vehicle impact zone, force and direction,   time of accident,   vehicle parts replaced and repaired,   materials needed for repair,   labor costs and material cost to effect repairs, and   sensor data and derivative products of sensor data recorded for each accident in the historical accident database; and   implement an accident review module configured to:   receive the information from the data collection module;   classify the accident type and severity based on similar entries in the historical accident database; and   generate a damage and repair estimate based on the comparison to the similar entries.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 2 , further comprising a vehicle configured to move material or people along a transportation network, wherein the data collection module comprises at least one or more sensors disposed in said vehicle and wherein the collected information comprises information output from said one or more sensors disposed in said vehicle during a timeframe encompassing the accident. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the accident review module is located either in the vehicle or remote to the vehicle.