Data mining in a digital map database to identify speed changes on upcoming curves along roads and enabling precautionary actions in a vehicle

A method for making, prior to a vehicle's approach to a potentially hazardous location, a component configured for a vehicle system that provides a precautionary action in a vehicle when the vehicle approaches the potentially hazardous location, wherein the component comprises an augmented version of a database that represents a road network in a geographic region, and using the component to provide a precautionary action, the method comprising:

• with a computer configured to operate under programming instructions, evaluating data contained in a first version of the database to identify locations along roads throughout the geographic region where a combination of a first condition and a second condition exist together at a same location wherein the first condition comprises a straight road section characterized in the database by no curvature followed by a curved road section characterized in the database by at least some curvature and wherein the second condition comprises a speed limit change between the straight road section and the curved road section;
• with the computer configured to operate under programming instructions, upon determining existence of the second condition at the location of the first condition, adding precautionary action data in association with the location to form the augmented version of the database, such that the vehicle system of the vehicle, based upon the vehicle's approach to a location, may determine whether precautionary action data exists in the augmented version of the database in association with the approached location and, based on the existence thereof, take a precautionary action and wherein the vehicle system does not take a precautionary action based on the precautionary action data when precautionary action data does not exist in the augmented version of the database in association with the approached location;
• coupling the augmented version of the database with the vehicle system of the vehicle, the vehicle system comprising a positioning system;
• accessing the augmented version of the database based on a location obtained from the positioning system of the vehicle system;
• determining whether precautionary action data exists in the augmented version of the database in association with the obtained location;
• and
• providing the result of the determination to the vehicle system.