Patent ID: 8473151

Claim:
A method for operating an excursion prevention system having an electronic control unit in electrical communication with a vehicle speed sensor, a transmission sensor, an accelerator sensor, and a brake sensor, the method comprising: transmitting a speed signal from the vehicle speed sensor to the electronic control unit, wherein the speed signal is indicative of a speed of a vehicle; transmitting a transmission signal from the transmission sensor to the electronic control unit, wherein the transmission signal is indicative of a status of the transmission; transmitting an accelerator pedal signal from the accelerator sensor to the electronic control unit, wherein the accelerator pedal signal is indicative of an application of an accelerator pedal of the vehicle; transmitting a brake pedal signal from the brake sensor to the electronic control unit, wherein the brake pedal signal is indicative of an application of a brake pedal of the vehicle; executing a machine readable control logic with the electronic control unit to determine that an excursion condition is present when the speed of the vehicle is zero, the transmission of the vehicle is in a drive gear, the accelerator pedal of the vehicle is unapplied, and the brake pedal of the vehicle is unapplied; and transmitting an alert signal from the electronic control unit when the excursion condition is present.