Broadcasting information related to hazards impacting vehicle travel

A mobile computing device for facilitating safer vehicle travel, the mobile computing device comprising:

• a controller configured to:
• determine whether the mobile computing device is mounted in a vehicle;
• collect, when it is determined that the mobile computing device is mounted in the vehicle, (1) telematics data associated with the vehicle, the telematics data including Global Positioning System (GPS) location data, speed data, at least one of direction data or heading data, braking data, cornering data, and at least one of acceleration data or deceleration data of the vehicle, and (2) digital data including at least one of digital image, digital audio, or digital video data associated with at least one of an interior or exterior of the vehicle;
• and
• analyze the telematics data and digital data collected to determine whether a hazard is associated with a road on which the vehicle is being driven;
• and
• at least one of a communication unit or a transceiver configured to:
• broadcast the telematics data and the digital data when the hazard is detected from the analysis of the telematics data and the digital data;
• and
• cause an insurance provider remote server to at least one of adjust or generate an insurance discount associated with the vehicle for display to an insured customer associated with the vehicle via the mobile computing device in response to the mobile computing device being configured to (1) determine a relevance of an identified anomaly based upon whether a location of the identified anomaly as determined based upon the telematics data and the digital data is within a threshold distance of a current location of the vehicle, and (2) analyze the telematics data and the digital data to determine whether the hazard is associated with the road on which the vehicle is being driven so as to incentivize the insured customer to facilitate warning at least one of drivers or smart vehicles of hazards,
• wherein the telematics data and the digital data are received by at least one of (1) a second mobile computing device located in a second vehicle that issues, in response to the telematics data and the digital data, an alert notifying a driver of the second vehicle of the hazard, or (2) at least one smart infrastructure component that transmits, in response to the telematics data and the digital data, at least one of (a) an alert or (b) the telematics data and the digital data onto at least one of the second vehicle or at least one other vehicle in the vicinity of the hazard.

A computer-implemented method of broadcasting information related to hazards impacting vehicle travel, the method comprising:

• collecting images forward of a vehicle, via at least one of a mobile device camera or one or more mobile device processors of a mobile device that is mounted within a vehicle dashboard cradle and positioned to take the images forward of the vehicle;
• collecting, via at least one of the one or more mobile device processors or a telematics app, telematics data, including Global Positioning System (GPS) location data, speed data, at least one of direction data or heading data, braking data, cornering data, and at least one of acceleration data or deceleration data of the vehicle while the vehicle is moving;
• generating, via the one or more mobile device processors, at least one of (1) an alert based upon the images forward of the vehicle and the telematics data or (2) a broadcast including the images forward of the vehicle and the telematics data;
• broadcasting, via at least one of the one or more mobile device processors, a communication unit, or a transceiver, the at least one of the alert or the broadcast via wireless communication or data transmission to at least one of (1) at least one nearby vehicle or (2) at least one smart infrastructure component to warn at least one of other vehicles or drivers of at least one of hazardous conditions or vehicle accidents;
• and
• causing an insurance provider remote server to at least one of adjust or generate an insurance discount associated with the vehicle for display to an insured customer associated with the vehicle via the mobile device in response to the mobile device being configured to (1) determine a relevance of an identified anomaly based upon whether a location of the identified anomaly as determined based upon the images forward of the vehicle and the telematics data is within a threshold distance of a current location of the vehicle, and (2) generate and broadcast the at least one of (i) the alert based upon the images forward of the vehicle and the telematics data, or (ii) the broadcast including the images forward of the vehicle and the telematics data so as to incentivize the insured customer to facilitate warning at least one of other vehicles or drivers of at least one of hazardous conditions or vehicle accidents.