A vehicle safety system comprising a series of lights. One set of lights in a prominent turn indicator device indicates to the driver in a more prominent way whether the driver has indicated a turn. The turn indicator lights are either heads-up on a windshield, visible to the driver atop the dashboard or on an interior vehicle pillar, and away from vehicle instrument clusters. Another set of lights on a seatbelt compliance light device indicate to motorists external to the vehicle whether one or more occupants of a vehicle is in seatbelt. Each light system can be used to improve both the safety of the driver, pedestrians, surrounding vehicles, and vehicle occupants.

An illumination system and method of ground and other illuminating that comprises a plurality of sensors that scan/detect the exterior area around the vehicle and at least one controller, the system selectively turning on/off a series of lighting elements placed strategically around the vehicle to allow light to be directed to at least one ground or other surface at the persons at all times or any predetermined time. A controller is provided to activate ground lighting in coordination with sensor signals identifying where an individual or object are located in predetermined proximity to the vehicle.

A school bus stop sign assembly for enhancing safety of children entering and exiting a school bus includes a hinging unit that is coupled to an outer wall of a school bus. The hinging unit is actuated into a deployed position and a stored position. A member is coupled to the hinging unit and the member extends outwardly from the school bus when the hinging unit is actuated into the deployed position. Thus, the member extends across a roadway on which the school bus is driving to inhibit a vehicle from passing the school bus thereby enhancing safety for children entering or exiting the school bus. A pair of video cameras is each coupled to the member to capture imagery of the environment around the member.

An accessory attachment system includes a baseplate that provides an attachment interface on a support surface. The baseplate is configured to engage with at least one accessory via the attachment interface to secure the accessory to the support surface. The attachment interface provides a plurality of different mounting positions for the at least one accessory. At least one mounting foot is associated with the at least one accessory and is configured to be selectively coupled to the attachment interface to provide a desired one of the plurality of different mounting positions. The at least one mounting foot includes an adjustment feature to account for any warpage of the support surface when the at least one accessory is mounted in the desired one of the plurality of different mounting positions.

An autonomous vehicle and a drunk driving responding method, includes an autonomous driving control apparatus including a processor that is configured to determine whether the vehicle is in an emergency situation when the alcohol is detected in the vehicle, and to move the vehicle to an operational design domain when the processor concludes that the vehicle is in the emergency situation, and a communication device that is configured to notify a government office or a rescue organization of the emergency situation.

Provided herein is a system and method implemented on a vehicle. The system comprises one or more sensors, one or more processors, and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the system to perform: obtaining data from the one or more sensors; comparing the obtained data from the one or more sensors with reference data; determining whether one or more characteristics of the obtained data deviate from corresponding characteristics of the reference data by more than a respective threshold; in response to determining that one or more characteristics of the data obtained deviate from corresponding characteristics of the reference data by more than a respective threshold, determining an action of the vehicle based on amounts of the one or more deviations; and performing the determined action.

A vehicle is provided that includes a body defining a roof. A roof rack is operably coupled to the roof through a plurality of mounting features and configured to support cargo. A load cell is positioned on each of the mounting features and configured to sense a load on the roof rack associated with the cargo. A controller is in communication with the load cells and an electronic device and a light source is positioned proximate each of the mounting features. The light source is configured to emit light based on the load sensed by the load cell.

A vehicle safety alert system. The system includes a controller disposed within a vehicle and a plurality of transmitters disposed along a roadway. The controller receives speed limit data from the transmitters and then both notifies a driver of the current speed limit and alerts the driver if the vehicle exceeds the speed limit. The controller also includes GPS components and is configured to upload vehicle location data to a database and server via an existing network. The transmitters are configured to receive vehicle speed and identification information and relay the information to a server. The information regarding vehicle speed, location, and identification is then sent from the database to the appropriate monitoring agency via the server.

A method for forming an emergency lane on a multi-lane road on which multiple transportation vehicles are located on at least two parallel driving lanes and on which at least one emergency vehicle is located, wherein the emergency vehicle is connected to more than one of the transportation vehicles via a wireless communications connection to exchange data and the transportation vehicles are prompted to form an emergency lane via the wireless communications connection. A transportation vehicle having an apparatus for implementing the method.

A hybrid vehicle includes an engine, a fuel tank, a motor, a battery, a charger, and a notification mechanism. The battery is configured to supply electric power to the motor. The charger is configured to carry out external charging that charges the battery by use of electric power from an external power source. The notification mechanism is configured to notify, to an outside of the vehicle, information on a use index indicative of a degree of use of external charging in a predetermined time period.