Importance

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Abstract

A system for restricting use of a vehicle by a selected vehicle operator to permitted time intervals and permitted vehicle travel corridors. If a driver is seated behind the driver's wheel, the system requires that the driver provide one or more samples of an ident indicium, such as a fingerprint, facial scan, retinal scan, voice sample or blood sample analysis, to identify the driver, or of a personal identification indicium contained on a token or card, or of personal information entered using a data entry device (e.g., keypad). When this indicium is satisfactorily presented and analyzed, the system allows operation of the vehicle (including selected vehicle accessories) but further determines (i) whether the present time and/or accumulated vehicle operation time and/or mileage is within a permitted time interval or accumulated time and/or mileage range and (ii) whether the vehicle present location and/or speed are within permitted ranges corresponding to the permitted time interval. If either condition (i) or (ii) is not met, vehicle operation is temporarily disabled, or a coded alarm signal is transmitted, or other appropriate control actions are taken. Alternatively, operation of a vehicle is restricted to one or more permitted location and/or velocity ranges and to one or more permitted time intervals or accumulated operation time and/or mileage ranges. Vehicle location determination (LD) can be implemented using signals from GPS, GLONASS, LEO, LORAN or similar LD systems. A permitted travel region and/or a permitted time interval can be changed remotely, by transmission of a change or reprogramming signal, or can be changed at the LD system carried on the vehicle.

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First Claim