Patent ID: 8880279

Claim:
A vehicle event recorder configured to be mounted in a vehicle, the vehicle event recorder comprising: a video camera having a field-of-view that includes an environment about the vehicle, the video camera configured to acquire consecutive frames of visual information representing the environment about the vehicle; a buffer memory configured to electronically store information; one or more sensors configured to generate output signals conveying information related to vehicle events; and a controller configured to: effectuate storage of the consecutive frames of visual information in the buffer memory with a first frame storage density; detect vehicle events based on the output signals; and responsive to detecting a vehicle event, designate individual frames of visual information stored in the buffer memory related to the vehicle event for long-term storage, wherein the individual frames related to the vehicle event designated for long-term storage have the first frame storage density during a first period of time that includes the vehicle event, wherein the individual frames related to the vehicle event identified for long-term storage have a second frame storage density for a second period of time before the first period of time and a third period of time after the first period of time, wherein the first frame storage density is higher than the second frame storage density, and wherein the controller is configured to facilitate interleaved overwriting of frames in the buffer memory not related to the vehicle event and not designated for long-term storage with additional frames acquired by the video camera after detection of the vehicle event, and wherein at least one of the additional frames acquired by the video camera after detection of the vehicle event is designated for long-term storage.