US Patent 10493952 Self-driving vehicle systems and methods

A vehicle fire is an emergency in which seconds count. Each second saved until the rider exits the vehicle can significantly reduce the severity of injuries due to the fire. Accordingly, a safety system can include a self-driving vehicle configured to transport a rider, a vehicle management system configured to autonomously drive the self-driving vehicle, a seat coupled to the self-driving vehicle, and a seat belt configured to alternatively have a buckled state and an unbuckled state. In many embodiments, the safety system includes a smoke detection system coupled to the self-driving vehicle and configured to detect smoke inside a cabin of the self-driving vehicle.