Methods for Detecting Vehicle Following Distance

Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . Double Patenting The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969). A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b). The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13. The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer. Claims 1-20 rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. 12,162,509 in view of Kim et al, (US 2023/273033) The patent claim 1, while disclosing all limitations of the instant claim 1, does not expressly disclose a method. Kim et al discloses a method, (see at least: 0014, “a method”). It is desirable to measure an inter-vehicle distance. The Kim’s method of measuring an inter-vehicle distance based on a vehicle image, is to achieve this goal. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, to modify the patent’s claim 1, to use the method of measuring an inter-vehicle distance, as though by Lim, in order to provide guidance based on the inter-vehicle distance using a measured distance, (Kim, Par. 001) Instant Application Comparison U.S. Patent No. 12,162,509 1. A method for determining a following distance between a first vehicle and a second vehicle, the method comprising: accessing an image including a representation of the first vehicle from a perspective of the second vehicle behind the first vehicle, the image further representing a common lane of travel of the first vehicle and the second vehicle; determining, by at least one processor, a first vertical position in the image representing a bottom of the first vehicle; accessing, by the at least one processor, a second vertical position in the image representing a static physical distance from the second vehicle; determining a transformed first vertical position by applying, by the at least one processor, an image transformation matrix to the first vertical position; determining a transformed second vertical position by applying, by the at least one processor, the image transformation matrix to the second vertical position; determining an image distance between the transformed first vertical position and the transformed second vertical position; determining the following distance as a physical distance between the first vehicle and the second vehicle based on the determined image distance and the static physical distance; and outputting the determined following distance. 1. A system for determining a following distance between a first vehicle and a second vehicle, the system comprising: at least one processor; and at least one non-transitory processor-readable storage medium communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and storing processor-executable instructions which when executed by the at least one processor cause the system to: access an image including a representation of the first vehicle from a perspective of the second vehicle behind the first vehicle, the image further representing a common lane of travel of the first vehicle and the second vehicle; determine, by the at least one processor, a first vertical position in the image representing a bottom of the first vehicle; accesse a transformed first vertical position by applying, by the at least one processor, an image transformation matrix to the first vertical position; determine a transformed second vertical position by applying, by the at least one processor, the image transformation matrix to the second vertical position; determine an image distance between the transformed first vertical position and the transformed second vertical position; determine the following distance as a physical distance between the first vehicle and the second vehicle based on the determined image distance and the static physical distance; and output 1. A system for determining a following distance between a first vehicle and a second vehicle, the system comprising: at least one processor; and at least one non-transitory processor-readable storage medium communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and storing processor-executable instructions which when executed by the at least one processor cause the system to: access an image including a representation of the first vehicle from a perspective of the second vehicle behind the first vehicle, the image further representing a common lane of travel of the first vehicle and the second vehicle; determine, by the at least one processor, a first vertical position in the image representing a bottom of the first vehicle; access, by the at least one processor, a second vertical position in the image representing a static physical distance from the second vehicle; determine a transformed first vertical position by applying, by the at least one processor, an image transformation matrix to the first vertical position; determine a transformed second vertical position by applying, by the at least one processor, the image transformation matrix to the second vertical position; determine an image distance between the transformed first vertical position and the transformed second vertical position; determine the following distance as a physical distance between the first vehicle and the second vehicle based on the determined image distance and the static physical distance; and output the determined following distance. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first vertical position represents a bottom boundary of a bounding box which encompasses the first vehicle. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first vertical position represents a bottom boundary of a bounding box which encompasses the first vehicle. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first vertical position represents a bottom boundary of a bounding box which encompasses the first vehicle. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the second vertical position represents a distal end of a hood of the second vehicle as represented in the image. 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the second vertical position represents a distal end of a hood of the second vehicle as represented in the image. 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the second vertical position represents a distal end of a hood of the second vehicle as represented in the image. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the image transformation matrix represents a transformation of the image to a transformed image having a fixed relationship between pixel size in the transformed image and physical distance represented by the transformed image. 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the image transformation matrix represents a transformation of the image to a transformed image having a fixed relationship between pixel size in the transformed image and physical distance represented by the transformed image. 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the image transformation matrix represents a transformation of the image to a transformed image having a fixed relationship between pixel size in the transformed image and physical distance represented by the transformed image. 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining a first boundary of the common lane of travel; determining a second boundary of the common lane of travel; determining a vanishing point for the image as a point where the first boundary and the second boundary intersect; accessing a region of interest in the image, where a bottom edge and a top edge of the region of interest are parallel to a horizontal axis of the image, a left edge of the region of interest extends from first point left of the common lane of travel towards the vanishing point, and a right edge of the region of interest extends from a second point right of the common lane of travel towards the vanishing point; determining a transformed region of interest where a left edge of the transformed region of interest is parallel to a right edge of the transformed region of interest; and determining the image transformation matrix as a matrix which when applied to the region of interest, transforms the region of interest to the determined transformed region of interest. 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause the system to: determine a first boundary of the common lane of travel; determine a second boundary of the common lane of travel; determine a vanishing point for the image as a point where the first boundary and the second boundary intersect; accesse a transformed region of interest where a left edge of the transformed region of interest is parallel to a right edge of the transformed region of interest; and determine the image transformation matrix as a matrix which when applied to the region of interest, transforms the region of interest to the determined transformed region of interest. 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause the system to: determine a first boundary of the common lane of travel; determine a second boundary of the common lane of travel; determine a vanishing point for the image as a point where the first boundary and the second boundary intersect; access a region of interest in the image, where a bottom edge and a top edge of the region of interest are parallel to a horizontal axis of the image, a left edge of the region of interest extends from first point left of the common lane of travel towards the vanishing point, and a right edge of the region of interest extends from a second point right of the common lane of travel towards the vanishing point; determine a transformed region of interest where a left edge of the transformed region of interest is parallel to a right edge of the transformed region of interest; and determine the image transformation matrix as a matrix which when applied to the region of interest, transforms the region of interest to the determined transformed region of interest. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first point is at a left boundary of the image and the second point is at a right boundary of the image. 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the first point is at a left boundary of the image and the second point is at a right boundary of the image. 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the first point is at a left boundary of the image and the second point is at a right boundary of the image. 7. The method of claim 5, wherein the bottom edge of the region of interest is positioned above a hood of the second vehicle as represented in the image, and the top edge of the region of interest is positioned below the vanishing point. 7. The system of claim 5, wherein the bottom edge of the region of interest is positioned above a hood of the second vehicle as represented in the image, and the top edge of the region of interest is positioned below the vanishing point. 7. The system of claim 5, wherein the bottom edge of the region of interest is positioned above a hood of the second vehicle as represented in the image, and the top edge of the region of interest is positioned below the vanishing point. 8. The method of claim 5, wherein accessing the region of interest in the image comprises receiving an indication of the region of interest as user input via a user input device. 8. The system of claim 5, wherein the processor-executable instructions which cause the system to access the region of interest in the image cause the system to receive an indication of the region of interest as user input via a user input device. 8. The system of claim 5, wherein the processor-executable instructions which cause the system to access the region of interest in the image cause the system to receive an indication of the region of interest as user input via a user input device. 9. The method of claim 5, wherein accessing the region of interest in the image comprises generating, by the at least one processor, boundaries of the region of interest. 9. The system of claim 5, wherein the processor-executable instructions which cause the system to access the region of interest in the image cause the at least one processor to generate boundaries of the region of interest. 9. The system of claim 5, wherein the processor-executable instructions which cause the system to access the region of interest in the image cause the at least one processor to generate boundaries of the region of interest. 10. The method of claim 5, wherein determining the transformed region of interest comprises determining four corner points of a rectangle corresponding to the transformed region of interest. 10. The system of claim 5, wherein the processor executable instructions which cause the system to determine the transformed region of interest cause the at least one processor to determine four corners points of a rectangle corresponding to the transformed region of interest. 10. The system of claim 5, wherein the processor executable instructions which cause the system to determine the transformed region of interest cause the at least one processor to determine four corners points of a rectangle corresponding to the transformed region of interest. 11. The method of claim 5, further comprising: determining a ratio of image distance to physical distance for a vertical axis of the image as transformed according to the image transformation matrix, based on a received measurement for a physical distance coaxial to the common lane and an image distance coaxial to the common lane as represented in the transformed region of interest. 11. The system of claim 5, wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause the at least one processor to: determine a ratio of image distance to physical distance for a vertical axis of the image as transformed according to the image transformation matrix, based on a received measurement for a physical distance coaxial to the common lane and an image distance coaxial to the common lane as represented in the transformed region of interest. 11. The system of claim 5, wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause the at least one processor to: determine a ratio of image distance to physical distance for a vertical axis of the image as transformed according to the image transformation matrix, based on a received measurement for a physical distance coaxial to the common lane and an image distance coaxial to the common lane as represented in the transformed region of interest. 12. The method of claim 5, further comprising: determining a ratio of image distance to physical distance for a horizontal axis of the image as transformed according to the image transformation matrix, based on a received measurement for a physical width of the common lane and an image distance width of the common lane as represented in the transformed region of interest. 12. The system of claim 5, wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause the at least one processor to: determine a ratio of image distance to physical distance for a horizontal axis of the image as transformed according to the image transformation matrix, based on a received measurement for a physical width of the common lane and an image distance width of the common lane as represented in the transformed region of interest. 12. The system of claim 5, wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause the at least one processor to: determine a ratio of image distance to physical distance for a horizontal axis of the image as transformed according to the image transformation matrix, based on a received measurement for a physical width of the common lane and an image distance width of the common lane as represented in the transformed region of interest. 13. The method of claim 12, further comprising: determining a ratio of image distance to physical distance for a vertical axis of the image as transformed according to the image transformation matrix, based on the ratio of image distance to physical distance for the horizontal axis of the image and based on the image transformation matrix. 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause the at least one processor to: determine a ratio of image distance to physical distance for a vertical axis of the image as transformed according to the image transformation matrix, based on the ratio of image distance to physical distance for the horizontal axis of the image and based on the image transformation matrix. 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause the at least one processor to: determine a ratio of image distance to physical distance for a vertical axis of the image as transformed according to the image transformation matrix, based on the ratio of image distance to physical distance for the horizontal axis of the image and based on the image transformation matrix. 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the static physical distance is received as a physical measurement between a front of the second vehicle and content represented in the image at the second vertical position. 14. The system of claim 1, wherein the static physical distance is received as a physical measurement between a front of the second vehicle and content represented in the image at the second vertical position. 14. The system of claim 1, wherein the static physical distance is received as a physical measurement between a front of the second vehicle and content represented in the image at the second vertical position. 15. The method of any one of claims 1 to 14, further comprising: determining, by the at least one processor, whether the following distance is within a tailgating distance criteria; identifying, by the at least one processor, that the second vehicle is not tailgating the first vehicle if the following distance is outside of the tailgating distance criteria; and identifying, by the at least one processor, that the second vehicle is tailgating the first vehicle if tailgating criteria are met, wherein the tailgating criteria includes the following distance being within the tailgating distance criteria. 15. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause the system to: determine, by the at least one processor, whether the following distance is within a tailgating distance criteria; identifythe following distance is outside of the tailgating distance criteria; and identify 15. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause the system to: determine, by the at least one processor, whether the following distance is within a tailgating distance criteria; identify, by the at least one processor, that the second vehicle is not tailgating the first vehicle if the following distance is outside of the tailgating distance criteria; and identify, by the at least one processor, that the second vehicle is tailgating the first vehicle if tailgating criteria are met, wherein the tailgating criteria includes the following distance being within the tailgating distance criteria. 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising, in response to an identification that the second vehicle is tailgating the first vehicle, outputting a tailgating indication to a driver of the second vehicle. 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause the system to, in response to an identification that the second vehicle is tailgating the first vehicle, output 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause the system to, in response to an identification that the second vehicle is tailgating the first vehicle, output a tailgating indication to a driver of the second vehicle. 17. The method of claim 15, further comprising, in response to an identification that the second vehicle is tailgating the first vehicle, outputting a tailgating indication to a management server. 17. The system of claim 15, wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause the system to, in response to an identification that the second vehicle is tailgating the first vehicle, output 17. The system of claim 15, wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause the system to, in response to an identification that the second vehicle is tailgating the first vehicle, output a tailgating indication to a management server. 18. The method of any one of claims 1 to 17, accessing the image comprises capturing the image by at least one image capture device of the system. 18. The system of claimwhereinprocessor-executable instructions which cause the system to access the image cause at least one image capture device of the system to capture the image. 18. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor-executable instructions which cause the system to access the image cause at least one image capture device of the system to capture the image. 19. The method of any one of claims 1 to 17, wherein accessing the image comprises receiving, by at least one communication interface of the system communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, the image. 19. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor-executable instructions which cause the system to accessause the system to receive, by at least one communication interface of the system communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, the image. 19. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor-executable instructions which cause the system to access the image cause the system to receive, by at least one communication interface of the system communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, the image. 20. The method of any one of claims 1 to 17, wherein accessing the image comprises accessing the image as stored in at least one non-transitory processor-readable storage medium. 20. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor-executable instructions which cause the system to accessause the system to access the at least one non-transitory processor-readable storage medium. 20. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor-executable instructions which cause the system to access the image cause the system to access the image as stored in the at least one non-transitory processor-readable storage medium. Allowable Subject Matter The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: -- Claim 1 is allowable over the prior art of record -- Claims 2-20 are allowable in view of their dependency on claim 1. With respect to claim 1, the prior art of record, alone or in reasonable combination, does not teach or suggest, the following underlined limitation(s), (in consideration of the claim as a whole): “determine the following distance as a physical distance between the first vehicle and the second vehicle based on the determined image distance and the static physical distance; and output the determined following distance” The relevant prior art of record, Kim et al, (US-PGPUB 20230273033) discloses a system for determining a following distance between a first vehicle and a second vehicle, the system comprising: at least one processor; and at least one non-transitory processor-readable storage medium communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and storing processor-executable instructions which when executed by the at least one processor cause the system to: access an image including a representation of the first vehicle from a perspective of the second vehicle behind the first vehicle, the image further representing a common lane of travel of the first vehicle and the second vehicle, (see at least: Par. 0128-0129, a photographing device 50 for photographing a driving image of a first vehicle (not illustrated) may be installed in the first vehicle to photograph the surroundings of the vehicle in a situation of driving or parking of the vehicle; and from Par. 0083, the first vehicle be driven on a roadway, and the second vehicle may first appear in front of or behind the first vehicle while the first vehicle is driving, [i.e., acquiring an image including a representation of the first vehicle from a perspective of the second vehicle behind the first vehicle]; and from Par. 0169, the control unit 19 may control the vehicle detecting unit 12 to detect the second vehicle from the driving image photographed by the photographing device of the first vehicle, [i.e., implicitly accessing an image including a representation of the first vehicle from a perspective of the second vehicle behind the first vehicle]. Further, Par. 0094, when the first vehicle is being driven on the specific lane, the vehicle detecting unit 12 may select the second vehicle located on the same lane as the first vehicle among the plurality of vehicles included in the driving image, and detect the selected second vehicle, [i.e., the image further representing a common lane of travel of the first vehicle and the second vehicle]); determine, by the at least one processor, a first vertical position in the image representing a bottom of the first vehicle, (see at least: Par. 0136-0142, the image width ratio calculating unit 15-1 may calculate an image width “VehicleW” of the second vehicle 30, and may identify a left boundary 31 and a right boundary 32 of the second vehicle 30 from the image of the detected second vehicle 30. The image width ratio calculating unit 15-1 may also set a line 33 indicating a location of the second vehicle 30 in the lane, where the line 33 indicating the location of the second vehicle 30 in the lane may be implemented as a line extending from a lower end of the left wheel and a lower end of the right wheel of the second vehicle 30, [i.e., implicitly determining a first vertical position in the image, “location of the second vehicle 30 in the lane based on the boundary lines (31, 32, 33) around the second vehicle 30”, where the first vertical position in the image represents a bottom of the first vehicle, “the line 33 is equivalent to the bottom boundary 33, which implicitly represents the bottom of the first vehicle, as it extends from a lower end of the left wheel and a lower end of the right wheel of the second vehicle 30”. Note that the second vehicle 30 is construed as being in front of the first vehicle]); and determine the following distance as a physical distance between the first vehicle and the second vehicle, (see at least: Par. 0130-0135, the inter-vehicle distance calculating unit 15 may calculate a distance between the photographing device 50 installed in the first vehicle and the second vehicle using the driving image photographed, based on the width of the second vehicle in real world, as shown in equation 2); and output the determined following distance, (see at least: Par. 0216-0217, the output unit 130 is a device that outputs data of the electronic device 100 that may be visually recognized by the user, [i.e., implicitly outputting the determined following distance, “data of the electronic device 100”, to the user]). However, Kim et al fails to teach or suggest, either alone or in combination with the other cited references, determining the following distance as a physical distance between the first vehicle and the second vehicle based on the determined image distance and the static physical distance”. A further prior art of record, He et al, (US-PGPUB 20210365696) discloses a at least one processor; and at least one non-transitory processor-readable storage medium communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and storing processor-executable instructions which when executed by the at least one processor, (see at least: Par. 0016-0018), cause the system to: access an image including a representation of the first vehicle from a perspective of the second vehicle behind the first vehicle, determine, by the at least one processor, a first vertical position in the image representing a bottom of the first vehicle, (see at least: Par. 0048-0049, and 0051, distance between the target object and the vehicle may be calculated according to the actual position of the target object and the actual position of the vehicle, [i.e., the actual position of the vehicle corresponds to the first vertical position in the image representing a bottom of the first vehicle, which is implicitly determined before determining the distance]); access, by the at least one processor, a second vertical position in the image representing a static physical distance from the second vehicle, (see at least: Par. 0048-0049, and Par. 0051, the position of the bounding box of the target object, “the position of the second vehicle within bounding box in from of the first vehicle shown in Fig. 2”, may be adjusted to obtain a more accurate actual position of the target object, “second vertical position in the image”, and the distance between the target object and the vehicle may be calculated according to the actual position of the target object and the actual position of the vehicle, “the actual position of the target object implicitly representing a static physical distance from the second vehicle”); determine a transformed first vertical position by applying, by the at least one processor, an image transformation matrix to the first vertical position, (see at least: Par. 0102, based on the homography matrix, it is possible to obtain the distance information between the ranging point and the target object in the image captured by the vehicle, [i.e., the homography matrix is implicitly applied to both the vehicle and target object shown in Fig. 2]); determine a transformed second vertical position by applying, by the at least one processor, the image transformation matrix to the second vertical position, (see at least: Par. 0101, determining, according to the adjusted bounding box, an actual position of the target object on the road with a plurality of homography matrices of the vehicle-mounted camera, [i.e., implicitly determining a transformed second vertical position, “actual position of the target object”, by applying, by the at least one processor, the image transformation matrix, “homography matrices” to the second vertical position]); and determine an image distance between the transformed first vertical position and the transformed second vertical position, (see at least: Par. 0102, after the corresponding positions of the ranging points in the image are mapped to the environment where the vehicle is located, the distance between the target object and the vehicle may be determined). However, while disclosing determining the static physical distance, (Par. 0051), and the determining an image distance between the transformed first vertical position and the transformed second vertical position, (see at least: Par. 0102), and the screen that provides an output interface between the electronic apparatus 800 and the user, (Fig. 10, and Par. 0223); He et al fails to teach or suggest, either alone or in combination with the other cited references, determining the following distance as a physical distance between the first vehicle and the second vehicle based on the determined image distance and the static physical distance; and output the determined following distance. Another prior art of record, Herrero et al, (US-PGPUB 20230382380) discloses a system for determining the following distance between a first vehicle and a second vehicle, the system comprising: at least one processor; and at least one non-transitory processor-readable storage medium communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and storing processor-executable instructions which when executed by the at least one processor cause the system to: access an image including a representation of the first vehicle from a perspective of the second vehicle behind the first vehicle, the image further representing a common lane of travel of the first vehicle and the second vehicle, (see at least: Par. 0048-0049, the vehicle controller 110 of the following vehicle 205 receives sensor information 220 from one or more sensors 105 including one or more images of the rear side of the first vehicle 210, where the following vehicle 205 and the first vehicle 210 are in the same lane 215 while traveling on the roadway, [i.e., the vehicle controller 110 implicitly access an image including a representation of the first vehicle from a perspective of the second vehicle behind the first vehicle, “receiving one or more images of the rear side of the first vehicle 210 from perspective of the following vehicle 205 implicitly behind the first vehicle”, the image further representing a common lane of travel of the first vehicle and the second vehicle, “where the following vehicle 205 and the first vehicle 210 are in the same lane 215 while traveling on the roadway”]); and determine the following distance as a physical distance between the first vehicle and the second vehicle, (see at least: Par. 0049-0050, the vehicle controller 110 uses the sensor information to determine an outline or boundary 225 of the first vehicle 210; and determines a taillight distance 235 between the two taillights 230. The vehicle controller 110 also determines a following distance 240 between the first vehicle 210 and the following vehicle 205. The vehicle controller 110 may extrapolate the following distance 240 based on the taillight distance 235, [i.e., determining the following distance as a physical distance between the first vehicle and the second vehicle]. However, Herrero et al fails to teach or suggest, either alone or in combination with the other cited references, determining the following distance as a physical distance between the first vehicle and the second vehicle based on the determined image distance and the static physical distance”. -- Herrero et al, (US-PGPUB 20170326981) discloses a system for determining a following distance between a first vehicle and a second vehicle, (see at least: Fig. 1), the system comprising: at least one processor; and at least one non-transitory processor-readable storage medium communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and storing processor-executable instructions which when executed by the at least one processor cause the system to: access an image including a representation of the first vehicle from a perspective of the second vehicle behind the first vehicle, the image further representing a common lane of travel of the first vehicle and the second vehicle, (see at least: Par. 0018-0020, imaging device 11, which may be installed near the upper side of the windshield of the own vehicle, captures a region that extends ahead of the own vehicle, generates image data representing the captured image, and sequentially outputs the data to the cruise control apparatus 10, which performs vehicle-following control to cause the own vehicle to follow the preceding vehicle that travels on the same lane as the own vehicle among preceding vehicles traveling ahead of the own vehicle, based on the input information, [i.e., cruise control apparatus implicitly access an image including a representation of the first vehicle, “preceding vehicle”, from a perspective of the second vehicle, “own vehicle”, behind the first vehicle, “own vehicle to follow the preceding vehicle”, where the image further representing a common lane of travel of the first vehicle and the second vehicle, “the image implicitly represents the preceding vehicle that travels on the same lane as the own vehicle”]); and determine, by the at least one processor, a first position of the first vehicle in the image, (see at least: Fig. 3, and Par. 0032, calculating the preceding vehicle position Pd by averaging detected points Pc for each of predetermined distance intervals, and a value at each distance interval, [i.e., determining a first position of the first vehicle in the image]); and determine a transformed position of the first vehicle by applying an image transformation matrix to the first position, (see at least: Fig. 4, and Par. 0035, updating the preceding vehicle position Pd through the coordinate transformation based on performing coordinate transformation of the position Q (i) and the position R (i) using both a rotation matrix calculated with the virtual center O used as the origin and the estimated R that has been calculated based on the speed and yaw rate of the own vehicle M1, [i.e., implicitly determine a transformed position, “the coordinate transformation”, of the preceding vehicle, “first vehicle”, by applying an image transformation matrix, “rotation matrix”, to the first position, “preceding vehicle position Pd”]). However, Herrero et al fails to teach or suggest, either alone or in combination with the other cited references, determining the following distance as a physical distance between the first vehicle and the second vehicle based on the determined image distance and the static physical distance”. -- Park et al, (KR 20120021445) discloses calculating distance between cars from an image captured using a single-lens camera generally mounted on a vehicle, by using lane width as standards at image taken by a single-lens camera. The preceding vehicle (30) runs in the same lane as the vehicle equipped with the camera, and is the vehicle that is the target for calculating the inter-vehicle distance, where a preceding vehicle area, where the preceding vehicle is located in the above video frame, is recognized using a method such as contour recognition, and serves as a reference for measuring the distance to the preceding vehicle, (see at least: Par. 0012-0030); but fails to teach or suggest, either alone or in combination with the other cited references, determining the following distance as a physical distance between the first vehicle and the second vehicle based on the determined image distance and the static physical distance”. Other prior art listed on the attached form PTO-892 show various aspects of the invention but none, either alone or in combination, teach or suggest all the claimed limitations. -- Todoran et al, (US-PGPUB 20230206466) discloses determine, by the at least one processor, a first vertical position in the image representing a bottom of the first vehicle, (see at least: Fig. 4, and Par. 0182, at step 404, the method 400 includes establishing a bounding box around the detected vehicle; and at step 406, calculating a measurement vector of the detected vehicle including horizontal and vertical locations of the centre of the bounding box at the current time instance, [i.e., implicitly determining a first vertical position in the image representing a bottom of the first vehicle based on the boundary around the first vehicle]). -- Parat et al, (US-PGPUB 20190256105) discloses determining the following distance as a physical distance between the first vehicle and the second vehicle, (see at least: Par. 0021, determining a following distance, which is a measurable interval of space maintained between the vehicle with autonomous capabilities and a second vehicle that is driving in front of the vehicle with autonomous capabilities). -- Aoyama, (US-PGPUB 20100110176) discloses transforming of the position (X, Y, Z) on the object into the position (u, v, 1) on the image based a position matrix P indicating rotation and translation of the object and a projection transform matrix w, [i.e., applying image transformation matrix to the object’s position to determine transformed position on the image], (see at least: Par. 0032). -- Ogino, (US-PGPUB 20230169793) discloses determining a transformed first vertical position by applying, by the at least one processor, an image transformation matrix to the first vertical position, (see at least: Par. 0113, transformation means for transforming coordinates of an eye of a target person, “object”, being included in a whole image associated with the estimated three-dimensional position into two-dimensional coordinates at first angle of view, based on the selected coordinate transformation matrix, [i.e., implicitly determining a transformed first vertical position, “determining two-dimensional coordinates”, by applying, an image transformation matrix, “coordinate transformation matrix”, to the first vertical position, “three-dimensional position”]). -- Hu et al, (US-PGPUB 20230159031) discloses a safe following distance estimation system between the autonomous vehicle and the adjacent vehicle according to a first sensing data and a second sensing data, sensed by a sensor, and a first friction parameter, and a second friction parameter, estimated by a processor, (see at least: Fig. 2, and Par. 0017-0020) -- Calmer et al, (US-Patent 11,643,102) discloses determining following distance 424, which is indicated in meters and travel time for the lead vehicle based on bounding boxes 420, 422 indicating objects identified by the feature detection neural network executed by the vehicle device and/or event analysis system, (see at least: Fig. 4, and col. 12, lines 41-67) -- Okuma (US-PGPUB 20220172396) discloses converting position of the vehicle from the coordinate system of the captured image into the coordinate system of the environmental map, (see at least: Fig. 4, and Par. 0049-0052). -- Lin et al, (US-PGPUB 20160019791), discloses determining the following distance as a physical distance between the first vehicle and the second vehicle, based according to the image characteristics of the license plate image of the first vehicle, (see Par. 0048, in step S701, the image acquiring module receives the vehicle image of the second vehicle, and extracts the license plate image from the vehicle image, and in step S703, the processing module computes the following distance between the first vehicle and the second vehicle according to the image characteristics of the license plate image). -- Kim et al, (US-PGPUB 20210224560) discloses measuring an inter-vehicle distance from the photographing device of the first vehicle to the second vehicle based on the calculated feature point change value, (see at least: Abstract). -- Tram et al (“Vehicle-to-Vehicle Distance Estimation Using a Low-Resolution Camera Based on Visible Light Communications”, IEEE 2018, Pages 4521-4527) (Year: 2018)), discloses an algorithm to determine the distance between vehicles for a Intelligent Transport System (ITS), using image sensor based visible light communication, (see Fig. 2, Pages 517-518, section B). 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