Patent ID: 8527146

Claim:
A method for controlling one or more settings of a vehicle using a device comprising an electronic circuit, the method comprising: initially determining, by the electronic circuit, whether a passenger is within the vehicle by: determining a first and a second geographic location of a passenger communication device associated with the passenger; determining a first and a second geographic location of the vehicle; and comparing the first and second geographic locations of the passenger communication device with the first and second geographic locations of the vehicle to determine if the passenger is traveling in the vehicle; obtaining, by the electronic circuit, a position of the passenger within the vehicle; identifying, by the electronic circuit, the passenger via at least one of the following: image analysis, facial recognition, scanning a bar-code, or input of a password; obtaining, by the electronic circuit, information comprising one or more setting preferences for the passenger; using, by the electronic circuit, the position and the information to determine whether one or more settings need to be changed; and changing the one or more settings based on the position and identity of the passenger; identifying, by the electronic circuit, a driver of the vehicle; comparing, by the electronic circuit, the identity of the driver with a predetermined list of drivers of the vehicle to obtain an operational profile for the driver; using, by the electronic circuit, the operational profile to determine whether one or more operational parameters of the vehicle need to be restricted; and changing a plurality of operational parameters based on the operational profile, wherein the operational parameters include at least one of vehicle speed, vehicle occupancy, allowed driving hours, allowed driving area, and seatbelt use.