Patent ID: 7646286
Filing Date: 2010-01-12
Classification: B60R

Abstract:
1. An apparatus provided in a vehicle for supporting recovery of the vehicle if the vehicle is stolen, the apparatus comprising: a determining unit that determines whether the vehicle is being stolen; a judging unit that judges a state of the vehicle and an environment around the vehicle based on criteria of safety or prevention of vehicle accidents, the environment including at least one of a shape of a path to be traveled by the vehicle and a presence of surrounding vehicles; a plurality of supporting units each capable of executing support processes to prevent theft of the vehicle; and a selecting unit that selects, when the determining unit determines that the vehicle is being stolen, at least one supporting unit among the supporting units to execute a corresponding support process according to a state of the vehicle and an environment around the vehicle judged by the judging unit, wherein the plurality of supporting units includes a notifying unit that sends a notification of a state of the vehicle to a predetermined contact point, wherein on a condition that the determining unit determines that a communication terminal held by a user of the vehicle is outside of the vehicle while the vehicle is traveling, the notifying unit sends the notification to the communication terminal or to an information center, and wherein on a condition that the determining unit determines that the vehicle is being stolen based on information received from the communication terminal, the notifying unit sends the notification to a security agency or to a police station.