System for preempting the normal function of traffic signals

Abstract

A traffic preemption system including at least one identification device for an identification of a vehicle and/or a driver of the vehicle; a historical travel database including records of previously taken routes by the vehicle or the driver; and a traffic signal preemption device. The traffic signal preemption device is configured to preempt a normal action of traffic signals dependent upon the identification of the vehicle and/or the identification of the driver by the identification device and the previously taken routes by the vehicle and/or the driver as determined by the historical travel database.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A traffic preemption system, comprising:
 at least one identification device for an identification of a vehicle and/or a driver of the vehicle;   a historical travel database including records of previously traveled routes by the vehicle or the driver; and   a traffic signal preemption device configured to preempt a normal action of traffic signals dependent upon the identification of the vehicle and/or the identification of the driver by the identification device and the previously traveled routes by the vehicle and/or the driver as determined by the historical travel database.   
     
     
         2 . The traffic preemption system of  claim 1 , wherein the identification device identifies the vehicle. 
     
     
         3 . The traffic preemption system of  claim 2 , wherein the identification device identifies a type of the vehicle. 
     
     
         4 . The traffic preemption system of  claim 3 , wherein the historical travel database includes travel data related to the type of the vehicle. 
     
     
         5 . The traffic preemption system of  claim 3 , wherein dependent upon the type of vehicle identified by the identification device the traffic signal preemption device is configured to continue to preempt the normal action of traffic signals until an end of preemption event is detected. 
     
     
         6 . The traffic preemption system of  claim 5 , wherein the end of preemption event is a detection of an ending vehicle. 
     
     
         7 . The traffic preemption system of  claim 1 , wherein the identification device identifies the driver of the vehicle. 
     
     
         8 . The traffic preemption system of  claim 1 , further comprising a turn signal detector for the vehicle configured to provide a turn signal indication signal to the traffic signal preemption device for preempting the normal action of traffic signals dependent upon the turn signal indication signal. 
     
     
         9 . The traffic preemption system of  claim 8 , wherein the turn signal indication signal causes the traffic signal preemption device to not use the historical travel database. 
     
     
         10 . The traffic preemption system of  claim 1 , wherein the historical travel database includes both historical travel data when the vehicle is using the traffic preemption system and when the vehicle is not using the traffic preemption system. 
     
     
         11 . A method of preempting traffic signals, comprising the steps of:
 identifying at least one of a vehicle and an operator of the vehicle;   comparing a current route of at least one of the identified vehicle and the identified operator with at least one previous travel route of the identified vehicle or the identified operator;   predicting at least one likely travel path of the vehicle dependent upon the results of the comparing step; and   preempting a normal operation of traffic signals along the at least one likely travel path of the vehicle.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the identifying step identifies the vehicle. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the identifying step identifies a type of the vehicle. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the previous travel routes are contained in a historical travel database that includes travel data related to the type of the vehicle. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein dependent upon the type of vehicle identified in the identifying step the preempting step additionally includes the step of continuing to preempt the normal action of traffic signals until an end of preemption event is detected. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the end of preemption event is a detection of an ending vehicle. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the identifying step identifies the driver of the vehicle. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising a turn signal detector for the vehicle configured to provide a turn signal indication signal, with the preempting step preempting the normal action of traffic signals dependent upon the turn signal indication signal. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the turn signal indication signal causes the method to not use the likely travel path. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the previous travel routes are contained in a historical travel database, the historical travel database includes both historical travel data when the vehicle is using the method and when the vehicle is not using the method.