Safety interlock system for motor vehicles

A safety interlock system for a motor vehicle having vehicle brakes and an anti-lock braking system capable of actively applying the vehicle brakes comprising:

• an object sensor capable of detecting the presence of an object in a danger zone near said motor vehicle and providing a detection signal;
• a door sensor capable of detecting the open or closed state of a door of said motor vehicle and providing an open door signal after opening of the door and a close door signal after closing the door;
• a control circuit activating said safety interlock system when said open door signal is received and deactivating the interlock system when said close door signal is received, the control circuit activating said vehicle brakes to prevent motion of the vehicle when said detection signal is received from said object sensor and said safety interlock system is activated;
• and
• an interlock override switch allowing an operator of said motor vehicle to temporarily deactivate said safety interlock system during one cycle of activation by the open door signal.

A safety interlock system for a motor vehicle having vehicle brakes and an anti-lock braking system capable of actively applying the vehicle brakes comprising:

• a front object sensor capable of detecting the presence of an object in a danger zone at the front of said motor vehicle and providing an activation signal;
• a rear object sensor capable of detecting the presence of an object in a danger zone at the rear of said motor vehicle and providing an activation signal;
• a control circuit capable of activating said safety interlock system when said activation signal is received, whereupon said control circuit activates said vehicle brakes to prevent motion of said vehicle when said activation signal is received from said object sensor;
• and
• a direction sensor capable of providing a direction signal indicating the potential direction of said motor vehicle upon activation of a throttle of said motor vehicle, said control circuit evaluating if an object indicated by said activation signal is in the actual direction of vehicle movement and, only if necessary, activating said vehicle brakes.