Vehicle accident management using peer-to-peer networks and systems

A method comprising:

• receiving, by a computing device of a vehicle, data stored in memory of an event data recorder (EDR) of the vehicle or a data storage device communicatively coupled to the EDR;
• selecting, by the computing device, certain parts of the received data according to size of each part of the certain parts;
• and
• sending over a communications network, by the computing device, the selected parts of the data to a computing node in a peer-to-peer network of computing nodes so that the computing node generates a record of the selected parts of the data and stores, in persistent storage a copy of the record as a block of a blockchain ledger so that the computing node is configured to transmit the record via peer-to-peer connections to computing nodes in the peer-to-peer network at will or upon requests by the computing nodes;
• wherein the receiving of the stored data by the computing device of the vehicle only occurs when the computing device predicts that the vehicle is about to be in an accident, when the computing device determines that the vehicle is in an accident, or when the computing device determines that the vehicle has been in an accident within a predetermined period of time, wherein the computing device determines that the vehicle is about to be in the accident, is in the accident, or has been in the accident based at least in part on external data received from a machine external of the vehicle;
• and
• wherein the computing device only sends the selected parts of the data after determining a validity of the selected parts of the data, wherein the validity is determined at least in part based on a digital signature of the data, wherein the digital signature is from the machine external of the vehicle.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium tangibly encoded with computer-executable instructions, that when executed by a processor of a computing node in a peer-to-peer network of computing nodes, causes the processor to perform a method, the method comprising:

• in response to a vehicle having an accident:
• receiving data about the accident, wherein the data is collected by a machine external of the vehicle;
• generating a record of the data;
• storing, in persistent storage at the computing node, a copy of the record;
• and
• transmitting the record from the computing node via peer-to-peer connections to computing nodes in the peer-to-peer network, wherein when receiving the record, each of the computing nodes in the peer-to-peer network is configured to store a copy of the record as a block of a blockchain ledger and broadcast the record to one or more additional computing nodes in the peer-to-peer network to cause the one or more additional computing nodes to store one or more additional copies of the record;
• and
• in response to an inquiry at the computing node, by a requester, about the accident:
• providing the record to the requester;
• and
• participating in a determination of a network consensus in the peer-to-peer network about the record, wherein a processor of each of the computing nodes in the peer-to-peer network is configured to determine a vote for a validity of the record based on copies of records in that each computing node, wherein the validity of the record is determined based on the votes;
• wherein the validity of the record is determined based on a majority of the votes or the votes reaching a number that exceeds a threshold number of nodes confirming the validity of the record;
• wherein the validity of the record is determined further based on a digital signature in the record being a verified digital signature, and wherein the digital signature is from the machine external of the vehicle.

An apparatus comprising:

• a computing node in a peer-to-peer network of computing nodes, wherein a processor of the computing node is configured to, in response to a vehicle having an accident:
• receive data about the accident, wherein the data is collected by a machine external of the vehicle;
• generate a record of the data;
• store, in persistent storage at the computing node, a copy of the record;
• and
• transmit the record from the computing node via peer-to-peer connections to computing nodes in the peer-to-peer network, wherein upon receiving the record, each of the computing nodes in the peer-to-peer network is configured to store a copy of the record as a block of a blockchain ledger and broadcast the record to one or more additional computing nodes in the peer-to-peer network to cause the one or more additional computing nodes to store one or more additional copies of the record;
• and
• wherein the processor is further configured to, in response to an inquiry at the computing node, by a requester, about the accident:
• provide the record to the requester;
• and
• participate in a determination of a network consensus in the peer-to-peer network about the record, wherein a processor of each of the computing nodes in the peer-to-peer network is configured to determine a vote for a validity of the record based on copies of records in that each computing node, wherein the validity of the record is determined based on the votes;
• wherein the validity of the record is determined based on a majority of the votes or the votes reaching a number that exceeds a threshold number of nodes confirming the validity of the record;
• wherein the validity of the record is determined further based on a digital signature in the record being a verified digital signature, and wherein the digital signature is from the machine external of the vehicle.

A system comprising:

• a first computing node in a peer-to-peer network of computing nodes, wherein a first processor of the first computing node is configured to, in response to a vehicle having an accident:
• receive data about the accident, wherein the data is collected by a machine external of the vehicle;
• generate a record of the data;
• store, in persistent storage at the first computing node, a copy of the record;
• and
• transmit the record from the first computing node via peer-to-peer connections to computing nodes in the peer-to-peer network, wherein upon receiving the record, each of the computing nodes in the peer-to-peer network is configured to store a copy of the record as a block of a blockchain ledger and broadcast the record to one or more additional computing nodes in the peer-to-peer network to cause the one or more additional computing nodes to store one or more additional copies of the record;
• and
• a second computing node in the peer-to-peer network of computing nodes, wherein a second processor of the second computing node is further configured to, in response to an inquiry at the second computing node, by a requester, about the accident:
• provide the record to the requester;
• and
• participate in a determination of a network consensus in the peer-to-peer network about the record, wherein a processor of each of the computing nodes in the peer-to-peer network is configured to determine a vote for a validity of the record based on copies of records in that each computing node, wherein the validity of the record is determined based on the votes;
• wherein the validity of the record is determined based on a majority of the votes or the votes reaching a number that exceeds a threshold number of nodes confirming the validity of the record;
• wherein the validity of the record is determined further based on a digital signature in the record being a verified digital signature, and wherein the digital signature is from the machine external of the vehicle.