Active safety control system

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for determining, and displaying, the regulatory compliance status of a motorized vehicle, a driver of a motorized vehicle, or a non-vehicle machine. An authorized agent, such as a law enforcement officer, can perform a remotely-initiated safe stop of a motorized vehicle to prevent a high-speed chase. A system management center can receive, store, and transmit regulatory compliance records indicating the regulatory compliance status of drivers, motorized vehicles, and non-vehicle machines. A motorized vehicle can detect, and report, a driver “tail-gating” the motorized vehicle. The regulatory compliance history of drivers, motorized vehicles, and non-vehicle machines can be queried by authorized users.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of safely stopping a motorized vehicle comprising:
 receiving, by a central control unit (CCU) of the vehicle, a command to safely stop the vehicle;   in response to receiving the command to safely stop the vehicle, the vehicle automatically performing:   disabling a throttle control of the vehicle;   engaging a braking system of the vehicle until the vehicle is stopped.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 in response to receiving the command to safely stop the vehicle, the vehicle automatically performing:
 stopping a fuel flow to an engine of the vehicle; and 
 stopping ignition signals to an ignition system of the vehicle. 
   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the command specifies a delay time between executing each operation of the safe stop, and the method further includes:
 executing the delay between each operation of the safe stop.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 in response to receiving the command to safely stop the vehicle, the vehicle automatically performing:
 initiating a disablement lock that keeps the throttle control disabled and the braking system engaged, until a command to disengage the disablement lock is received. 
   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the command to safely stop the vehicle is received from a law enforcement agency vehicle control system. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining a current location of the vehicle;   accessing the CCU to determine a boundary limit condition for the vehicle;
 wherein the command to safely stop the vehicle is initiated by the CCU of the vehicle, in response to determining that the current location of the vehicle is approaching the boundary limit condition for the vehicle. 
   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining a current location of the vehicle;   determining a current driver of the vehicle;   accessing the CCU to determine a boundary limit condition for the driver of the vehicle;
 wherein the command to safely stop the vehicle is initiated by the CCU of the vehicle, in response to determining that the current location of the vehicle is approaching the boundary limit condition for the driver of the vehicle. 
   
     
     
         8 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium programmed with executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system having at least one hardware processor, perform operations of safely stopping a vehicle, the operations comprising:
 receiving, by a central control unit (CCU) of the vehicle, a command to safely stop the vehicle;   in response to receiving the command to safely stop the vehicle, the vehicle automatically performing:   disabling a throttle control of the vehicle;   engaging a braking system of the vehicle until the vehicle is stopped.   
     
     
         9 . The medium of  claim 8 , the operations further comprising:
 in response to receiving the command to safely stop the vehicle, the vehicle automatically performing:
 stopping a fuel flow to an engine of the vehicle; and 
 stopping ignition signals to an ignition system of the vehicle. 
   
     
     
         10 . The medium of  claim 9 , wherein the command specifies a delay time between executing each operation of the safe stop, and the operations further include:
 executing the delay between each operation of the safe stop.   
     
     
         11 . The medium of  claim 8 , the operations further comprising:
 in response to receiving the command to safely stop the vehicle, the vehicle automatically performing:
 initiating a disablement lock that keeps the throttle control disabled and the braking system engaged, until a command to disengage the disablement lock is received. 
   
     
     
         12 . The medium of  claim 8 , wherein the command to safely stop the vehicle is received from a law enforcement agency vehicle control system 
     
     
         13 . The medium of  claim 8 , the operations further comprising:
 determining a current location of the vehicle;   accessing the CCU to determine a boundary limit condition for the vehicle;
 wherein the command to safely stop the vehicle is initiated by the CCU of the vehicle, in response to determining that the current location of the vehicle is approaching the boundary limit condition for the vehicle. 
   
     
     
         14 . A system comprising:
 a processing system having at least one hardware processor, the processing system coupled to a memory programmed with executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, perform operations of safely stopping a vehicle, the operations comprising:   receiving, by a central control unit (CCU) of the vehicle, a command to safely stop the vehicle;   in response to receiving the command to safely stop the vehicle, the vehicle automatically performing:   disabling a throttle control of the vehicle;   engaging a braking system of the vehicle until the vehicle is stopped.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , the operations further comprising:
 in response to receiving the command to safely stop the vehicle, the vehicle automatically performing:
 stopping a fuel flow to an engine of the vehicle; and 
 stopping ignition signals to an ignition system of the vehicle. 
   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the command specifies a delay time between executing each operation of the safe stop, and the operations further include:
 executing the delay between each operation of the safe stop.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 14 , the operations further comprising:
 in response to receiving the command to safely stop the vehicle, the vehicle automatically performing:
 initiating a disablement lock that keeps the throttle control disabled and the braking system engaged, until a command to disengage the disablement lock is received. 
   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the command to safely stop the vehicle is received from a law enforcement agency vehicle control system 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 14 , the operations further comprising:
 determining a current location of the vehicle;   accessing the CCU to determine a boundary limit condition for the vehicle;
 wherein the command to safely stop the vehicle is initiated by the CCU of the vehicle, in response to determining that the current location of the vehicle is approaching the boundary limit condition for the vehicle. 
   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 15 , the operations further comprising:
 determining a current location of the vehicle;   determining a current driver of the vehicle;   accessing the CCU to determine a boundary limit condition for the driver of the vehicle;
 wherein the command to safely stop the vehicle is initiated by the CCU of the vehicle, in response to determining that the current location of the vehicle is approaching the boundary limit condition for the vehicle.