Method and system for collecting data concerning thermal properties of roads for a geographic database and use thereof in a vehicle safety system

A system for collecting data indicative of a thermal property of roads for a geographic database comprising:

• a vehicle equipped with sensor equipment responsive to the thermal property of a road surface upon which said vehicle is being driven;
• a vehicle positioning system by which a location of said vehicle along said roads is determined;
• and
• a data collection system located in said vehicle, wherein said data collection system is responsive to said sensor equipment and said vehicle positioning system, and wherein said data collection system includes a data storage device that stores data indicative of a thermal property of a surface of a road upon which said vehicle is being driven.

A safety system for a vehicle comprising:

• a geographic database that contains data representing roads in a geographic area in which said vehicle is traveling and data indicating a thermal property of locations along said roads;
• a vehicle positioning system that determines a current location of said vehicle on a road represented by said geographic database;
• and
• an ice hazard application implemented on a computing device wherein said ice hazard application compares the current location of said vehicle to said data indicating the thermal property of locations along said roads and implements a safety procedure when said vehicle approaches a location at which said thermal property indicates a potential ice hazard.

A safety system for a vehicle comprising:

• a geographic database;
• programming that uses the geographic database to provide a safety procedure in a location of potential ice hazards;
• and
• programming that uses the geographic database to provide at least one of:
• an additional safety procedure and navigation features.