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Method and arrangement for obtaining and conveying information about occupancy of a passenger compartment of a vehicle including a health state determining mechanism for determining the occupant's health state, and a communications mechanism coupled to the health state determining mechanism for esta

Method and arrangement for obtaining and conveying information about occupancy of a passenger compartment of a vehicle including a health state determining mechanism for determining the occupant's health state, and a communications mechanism coupled to the health state determining mechanism for establishing a communications channel between the vehicle and a remote facility to enable the occupant's health state to be transmitted to the remote facility. The determining mechanism may include a heartbeat sensor, a sensor for detecting motion of the occupants such as a micropower impulse radar sensor and/or an arrangement for detecting changes in the weight distribution of the occupants, a motion sensor for determining whether the occupants are breathing, a chemical sensor for analyzing the amount of carbon dioxide in the passenger compartment or around the occupants and/or a chemical sensor for detecting the presence of blood in the passenger compartment. The determining mechanism may determine whether a driver's breathing is erratic or indicative of a state in which the driver is dozing. It may also include a breath-analyzer for analyzing the alcohol content in air expelled by the driver. An alarm or warning light is activatable by the remote facility over the communications channel based on analysis of the occupant's health state.

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1. An arrangement for obtaining and conveying information about occupants in a vehicle including a driver of the vehicle, comprising:health state determining means for determining the health state of any occupants in the vehicle, said health state determining means being adapted to be arranged on th

1. An arrangement for obtaining and conveying information about occupants in a vehicle including a driver of the vehicle, comprising:health state determining means for determining the health state of any occupants in the vehicle, said health state determining means being adapted to be arranged on the vehicle, andcommunications means coupled to said health state determining means and arranged to establish a communications channel between the vehicle and a remote facility to thereby enable the determined health state of the occupants to be transmitted to the remote facility, said communications means being adapted to be arranged on the vehicle. 2. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein said health state determining means comprise a heartbeat sensor. 3. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein said health state determining means comprise means for detecting motion of the occupants. 4. The arrangement of claim 3, wherein said means for detecting motion of the occupants comprises a micropower impulse radar sensor. 5. The arrangement of claim 3, wherein said means for detecting motion of the occupants comprises an arrangement for detecting changes in the weight distribution of the occupants. 6. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein said health state determining means comprise a motion sensor arranged to determine whether the occupants are breathing based on changes of the occupants bodies indicative of breathing movement of the occupants. 7. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein said health state determining means comprise a chemical sensor arranged to analyze the amount of carbon dioxide in the passenger compartment or around the occupants. 8. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein said health state determining means comprise a chemical sensor arranged to chemically detect the presence of exposed blood in the passenger compartment. 9. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein said health state determining means are arranged to determine whether a driver's breathing is erratic or indicative of a state in which the driver is dozing. 10. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein said health state determining means comprise a breath-analyzer arranged to analyze the alcohol content in air expelled by the driver. 11. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein said health state determining means are arranged to determine the health state of any occupants in the vehicle while the driver is operating the vehicle and the transmitted health state of the driver is analyzed at the remote facility to ascertain whether the driver is operating the vehicle is a normal or abnormal manner, further comprising an alarm or warning light activatable by the remote facility over the established communications channel when analysis of the transmitted health state of the driver indicates that the driver is operating the vehicle in an abnormal manner. 12. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein said health state determining means are arranged to determine the health state of any occupants in the vehicle while the driver is operating the vehicle or after a crash of the vehicle. 13. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein said health state determining means are arranged to generate a signal representative of the determined health state of any occupants in the vehicle which is transmitted to the remote facility. 14. The vehicle of claim 16, wherein said vehicle component or subsystem includes a signal receiver for receiving a signal directly from the remote facility when the driver is operating the vehicle in an abnormal manner. 15. The vehicle of claim 16, further comprising a processor coupled to said health state determining means, said communications unit and said vehicle component or subsystem, said communications unit being arranged to receive a signal from the remote facility when the driver is operating the vehicle in an abnormal manner and said vehicle component or subsystem being activated indirectly by the signal via said communications unit and said processor. 16. A vehicle including a syst em for preventing accidents; comprising:health state determining means arranged on the vehicle for determining the health state of a driver of the vehicle at least while the driver is operating the vehicle;communications means coupled to said health state determining means and arranged on the vehicle to establish a communications channel between the vehicle and a remote facility to thereby enable the determined health state of the driver to be transmitted to the remote facility whereby the transmitted health state of the driver is analyzed at the remote facility to ascertain whether the driver is operating the vehicle in a normal or abnormal manner; anda vehicle component or subsystem activatable by the remote facility over the established communications channel based on the analysis of the transmitted health state of the driver whereby when the analysis of the transmitted health state of the driver indicates that the driver is operating the vehicle abnormally, said vehicle component is activated by the remote facility. 17. The vehicle of claim 16, wherein said component is an audible alarm. 18. The vehicle of claim 16, wherein said component is a visible warning light. 19. The vehicle of claim 16, wherein said component is an automatic guidance system arranged to assume control of the vehicle from the driver and guide the vehicle out of the traffic stream or to a shoulder of a roadway. 20. The vehicle of claim 16, wherein said component is an ignition shutoff arranged to shut off the ignition and prevent continued operation of the vehicle by the driver. 21. The vehicle of claim 16, wherein said health state determining means comprise a heartbeat sensor. 22. The vehicle of claim 16, wherein said health state determining means comprise means for detecting motion of the driver. 23. The vehicle of claim 22, wherein said means for detecting motion of the driver comprise a micropower impulse radar sensor. 24. The vehicle of claim 22, wherein said means for detecting motion of the driver comprise an arrangement for detecting changes in the weight distribution of the driver. 25. The vehicle of claim 16, wherein said health state determining means comprise a motion sensor arranged to determine whether the driver is breathing based on changes of the driver's body indicative of a breathing movement of the driver. 26. The vehicle of claim 16, wherein said health state determining means comprise a chemical sensor arranged to analyze the amount of carbon dioxide in the passenger compartment or around the driver. 27. The vehicle of claim 16, wherein said health state determining means are arranged to determine whether a driver's breathing is erratic or indicative of a state in which the driver is dozing. 28. The vehicle of claim 16, wherein said health state determining means comprise a breath-analyzer for analyzing the alcohol content in air expelled by the driver. 29. The vehicle of claim 16, wherein said health state determining means comprise:at least one transducer arranged to receive waves generated by or emanating from the driver; anda processor coupled to said at least one transducer and programmed to compare motions of the driver over time as derived from the waves received by said at least one transducer to determine changes in the driver's behavior representative of the driver becoming incapacitated. 30. The vehicle of claim 29, further comprising a warning light controlled by said processor when said processor determines that there is a reasonable probability that the driver has fallen asleep. 31. The vehicle of claim 30, further comprising a button accessible to the driver and coupled to said processor, said button being arranged such that when said button is pushed while said warning light is illuminated, illumination of said warning light is stopped. 32. The vehicle of claim 31, wherein said processor is arranged such that when said button is not pushed while said warning light is illuminated, a horn and lights of the vehicle are operated. 33. The vehicle of claim 16, wherein said health state determining means comprise a chemical sensor arranged to chemically detect the presence of exposed blood in the passenger compartment. 34. The vehicle of claim 16, wherein said health state determining means are arranged to generate a signal representative of the determined health state of any occupants in the vehicle which is transmitted to the remote facility. 35. The vehicle of claim 16, wherein the remote facility generates a signal when the driver is operating the vehicle in an abnormal manner, said vehicle component or subsystem being activatable by the signal from the remote facility. 36. An arrangement for obtaining and conveying information about occupants in a vehicle including a driver of the vehicle, comprising:a health state determining system arranged to determine the health state of any occupants in the vehicle while the occupants are situated in the vehicle including after a crash involving the vehicle, said health state determining system and being adapted to be arranged on the vehicle and comprising a vehicle interior monitoring system which obtains information about occupancy of a passenger compartment of the vehicle; anda communications system coupled to said health state determining system and arranged to establish a communications channel between the vehicle and a remote facility to thereby enable the determined health state of the occupants to be transmitted to the remote facility, said communications system being adapted to be arranged on the vehicle. 37. The arrangement of claim 36, wherein said health state determining means comprise a motion sensor arranged to determine whether the occupants are breathing based on changes of the occupants bodies indicative of breathing movement of the occupants. 38. The arrangement of claim 36, wherein said health state determining means are arranged to determine whether a driver's breathing is erratic or indicative of a state in which the driver is dozing. 39. The arrangement of claim 36, wherein said health state determining means are arranged to generate a signal representative of the determined health state of any occupants in the vehicle which is transmitted to the remote facility. 40. The arrangement of claim 36, wherein said health state determining means comprise a paffem recognition system arranged to determine whether any of the occupants are moving after the crash, with the determination of movement of motion constituting part of the health state of the occupants. 41. A vehicle including a system for preventing accidents; comprising:a health state determining system arranged on the vehicle to determine the health state of a driver of the vehicle at least while the driver is operating the vehicle, said health state determining system being arranged to generate a signal representative of the determined health state of any occupants in the vehicle;a communications system coupled to said health state determining system and arranged on the vehicle to establish a communications channel between the vehicle and a remote facility to thereby enable the signal representative of the determined health state of the driver to be transmitted to the remote facility whereby the transmitted health state of the driver is analyzed at the remote facility to ascertain whether the driver is operating the vehicle in a normal or abnormal manner, the remote facility generating a signal when the driver is operating the vehicle in an abnormal manner; anda vehicle component or subsystem activatable by the signal from the remote facility over the established communications channel based on the analysis of the transmitted health state of the driver whereby when the analysis of the transmitted health state of the driver indicates that the driver is operating the vehicle abnormally, said vehicle component is activated by the remote facility. 42. The vehicle of claim 41, wherein said component is an automatic guidance sys tem arranged to assume control of the vehicle from the driver and guide the vehicle out of the traffic stream or to a shoulder of a roadway. 43. The vehicle of claim 41, wherein said component is an ignition shutoff arranged to shut off the ignition and prevent continued operation of the vehicle by the driver. 44. The vehicle of claim 41, wherein said health state determining means comprise a motion sensor arranged to determine whether the driver is breathing based on changes of the driver's body indicative of a breathing movement of the driver.