[CT-NFB] FW: [Nfbnet-members-list] Fwd: Happy Anniversary of Blind Driver Challenge-Accelerating Our Efforts

Mon Feb 15 20:05:59 UTC 2021

FYI

Best Regards,

Maryanne Melley

President

National Federation of the Blind of Connecticut

860-212-5549

maryanne.melley at gmail.com

"Live the Life You Want; Blindness is Not What Holds You Back"

From: NFBNet-Members-List <nfbnet-members-list-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf
Of David Andrews via NFBNet-Members-List
Sent: Saturday, January 30, 2021 2:09 AM
To: nfbnet-members-list at nfbnet.org
Subject: [Nfbnet-members-list] Fwd: Happy Anniversary of Blind Driver
Challenge-Accelerating Our Efforts

Celebrating Tenth Anniversary of Blind Driver Challenge-Accelerating Our
Efforts

The National Federation of the Blind is celebrating the ten year anniversary
of the Blind Driver Challenge by accelerating it this year. We are
collaborating with Dan Parker
<https://www.nfb.org/libraries/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=19821&qid=4828176>
to build and operate a car to attempt to break the Guinness Book World
Record for the "Fastest Speed for a Car Driven Blindfolded" in the fall of
2021, anticipating reaching a speed of over two hundred miles perhour.

The effort is an acceleration of the NFB's Blind Driver Challenge, an
initiative in which the ability of a blind driver to successfully operate an
automobile using nonvisual technology was demonstrated ten years ago. On
January 29, 2011, Mark Riccobono, now President of the National Federation
of the Blind, independently operated a modified Ford Escape hybrid
<https://www.nfb.org/libraries/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=19831&qid=4828176>
on the Daytona International Speedway, navigating the course's turns as well
as avoiding dynamic obstacles by following haptic prompts generated by
inputfrom the vehicle's GPS, cameras, and LIDAR sensors. The goal of the
Blind Driver Challenge going forward is for the nation's blind to share our
lived experience and expertise in nonvisual technology in a collaboration
with industry leaders to develop nonvisual interfaces so that blind people
will be able to independently use autonomous vehicles to safely navigate
daily life. 

"Our Daytona Blind Driver Challenge demonstration changed the perceptions of
blindness held by society, including the perceptions that we ourselves held
as blind people," said Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation
of the Blind. "It further demonstrated to the world that the expertise of
the blind is critical to the development of nonvisual interfaces. We are now
accelerating the challenge in 2021 because the need for urgency in the
development and implementation of accessibility in emerging technology is
even greater. We look forward to working with Dan Parker and others on
innovations thatwill enhance the mobility and independence of blind
Americans."

"I am proud and honored to partner with the National Federation of the Blind
and the Blind Driver Challenge to bring the Guinness World Record for the
fastest blind person in the world home to America," said Dan Parker. "With
the work of the Blind Driver Challenge, it was demonstrated that a blind
person can safely drive a vehicle, and I will demonstrate that a blind
person can safely race a vehicle at over two hundred miles per hour.
Together we hope to inspire the blind youth of today to get involved in STEM
at their schools. My2008 Corvette is a purpose-built race car and I designed
every aspect of it."

Dan Parker is the first blind person to independently drive a vehicle to
fifty miles per hour, one hundred miles per hour, and one hundred fifty
miles per hour to this date. His Corvette makes over eight hundred
horsepower and has a custom guidance system that gives him audible feedback.

Stay tuned for more exciting details on the Blind Driver Challenge
<https://www.nfb.org/libraries/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=19822&qid=4828176> .

 <https://www.nfb.org/libraries/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=19823&qid=4828176>
<https://www.nfb.org/libraries/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=19823&qid=4828176>  

 <https://www.nfb.org/libraries/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=19824&qid=4828176> 

 <https://www.nfb.org/libraries/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=19825&qid=4828176> 

 <https://www.nfb.org/libraries/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=19826&qid=4828176> 

 <https://www.nfb.org/libraries/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=19827&qid=4828176> 

 <https://www.nfb.org/libraries/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=19828&qid=4828176> 

National Federation of the Blind | 200 E Wells Street | Baltimore, MD 21230
| 410-659-9314 

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