A real-time application-based cellular system with real-time GPS positioning to notify civilian drivers of the proximity of emergency services vehicles in sufficient time to allow appropriate response. Civilian users receive alerts and information on their personal computing devices, including, but not limited to, tablets and smart phones. No addition or special hardware is required. Only drivers in a moving vehicle with a certain proximity are directly and selectively notified. The system also is able to send other additional customized warning signals to citizens in threatening situations in a non-vehicular context.

Systems and methods are provided that may to cause autonomous navigation of autonomous vehicles in the case of non-standard traffic flows such as police stops, emergency vehicle passing, construction sites, vehicle collision sites, and other non-standard road conditions. An entity associated with the non-standard traffic flow (e.g., an emergency vehicle, road sign, barrier, etc.) may transmit or broadcast a control signal to be received (or otherwise detected) at one or more autonomous vehicles. Each autonomous vehicle, upon receiving the control signal, may autonomously navigate in accordance with the control signal, thus mitigating or eliminating dangers associated with non-standard traffic flows.

Systems and methods are provided that may to cause autonomous navigation of autonomous vehicles in the case of non-standard traffic flows such as police stops, emergency vehicle passing, construction sites, vehicle collision sites, and other non-standard road conditions. An entity associated with the non-standard traffic flow (e.g., an emergency vehicle, road sign, barrier, etc.) may transmit or broadcast a control signal to be received (or otherwise detected) at one or more autonomous vehicles. Each autonomous vehicle, upon receiving the control signal, may autonomously navigate in accordance with the control signal, thus mitigating or eliminating dangers associated with non-standard traffic flows.

A method of operating a vehicle, such as an autonomous vehicle, includes the steps of receiving a message from roadside infrastructure via an electronic receiver and providing, by a computer system in communication with said electronic receiver, instructions based on the message to automatically implement countermeasure behavior by a vehicle system. Additionally or alternatively, the method may include the steps of receiving a message from another vehicle via an electronic receiver and providing, by a computer system in communication with said electronic receiver, instructions based on the message to automatically implement countermeasure behavior by a vehicle system.

A method of operating a vehicle, such as an autonomous vehicle, includes the steps of receiving a message from roadside infrastructure via an electronic receiver and providing, by a computer system in communication with said electronic receiver, instructions based on the message to automatically implement countermeasure behavior by a vehicle system. Additionally or alternatively, the method may include the steps of receiving a message from another vehicle via an electronic receiver and providing, by a computer system in communication with said electronic receiver, instructions based on the message to automatically implement countermeasure behavior by a vehicle system.

A method for providing an audio-based model of an environment of a vehicle, the method may include obtaining, during a driving session of a vehicle, sensed information about the environment of the vehicle; wherein the sensed information may include sensed audio information. The sensed information may also include at least one type of non-audio sensed information; and generating an audio-based model of the environment based, at least in part, on the sensed audio information.

A vehicle with an emergency reporting function includes a vehicle communicator, an emergency reporting switch, a user interface, and a processor. The vehicle communicator transmits an emergency report about an emergency involving the vehicle to a server to make a request for an emergency response. The processor generates an emergency report and causes the vehicle communicator to transmit the emergency report if the vehicle is involved in an emergency. If the emergency reporting switch is manually operated by an occupant of the vehicle upon occurrence of the emergency, the processor presents emergency category items to allow the occupant to select a category item among the emergency category items on the user interface, generates the emergency report based on a manual operation about the category item selected by the occupant, and causes the vehicle communicator to transmit the emergency report based on the manual operation.

A vehicle with an emergency reporting function includes a vehicle communicator, an emergency reporting switch, a user interface, and a processor. The vehicle communicator transmits an emergency report about an emergency involving the vehicle to a server to make a request for an emergency response. The processor generates an emergency report and causes the vehicle communicator to transmit the emergency report if the vehicle is involved in an emergency. If the emergency reporting switch is manually operated by an occupant of the vehicle upon occurrence of the emergency, the processor presents emergency category items to allow the occupant to select a category item among the emergency category items on the user interface, generates the emergency report based on a manual operation about the category item selected by the occupant, and causes the vehicle communicator to transmit the emergency report based on the manual operation.

Systems and methods are provided to implement cooperative traffic congestion detection, and enhance the accuracy of detection of traffic congestion for enhanced routing and maneuvering vehicles along a travel route. A vehicle is configured to receive vehicle data from an ad-hoc network of a plurality of vehicles that are communicatively connected (and proximately located). A subset of the plurality of vehicles can be sensor-rich vehicles that are equipped with ranging sensors (e.g., cameras, LIDAR, radar, ultrasonic sensors), which enables real-time detection of the multiple traffic parameters, such as the presence of other vehicles, vehicle speed, vehicle movement, traffic, and the like, within the vicinity along the route. The vehicle employs cooperative traffic congestion detection, and fuses data from the plurality of vehicles, including sensor-rich vehicles and legacy vehicles, and applies a learning-based algorithm, such as a machine-learning (ML) algorithm, to generate a real-time and more accurate estimate of traffic congestion.

Systems and methods are provided to implement cooperative traffic congestion detection, and enhance the accuracy of detection of traffic congestion for enhanced routing and maneuvering vehicles along a travel route. A vehicle is configured to receive vehicle data from an ad-hoc network of a plurality of vehicles that are communicatively connected (and proximately located). A subset of the plurality of vehicles can be sensor-rich vehicles that are equipped with ranging sensors (e.g., cameras, LIDAR, radar, ultrasonic sensors), which enables real-time detection of the multiple traffic parameters, such as the presence of other vehicles, vehicle speed, vehicle movement, traffic, and the like, within the vicinity along the route. The vehicle employs cooperative traffic congestion detection, and fuses data from the plurality of vehicles, including sensor-rich vehicles and legacy vehicles, and applies a learning-based algorithm, such as a machine-learning (ML) algorithm, to generate a real-time and more accurate estimate of traffic congestion.