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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>FYI<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Best Regards,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Maryanne Melley<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>President<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>National Federation of the Blind of Connecticut<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>860-212-5549<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>maryanne.melley@gmail.com<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>“Live the Life You Want; Blindness is Not What Holds You Back”<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b>From:</b> NFBNet-Members-List <nfbnet-members-list-bounces@nfbnet.org> <b>On Behalf Of </b>David Andrews via NFBNet-Members-List<br><b>Sent:</b> Saturday, January 30, 2021 2:09 AM<br><b>To:</b> nfbnet-members-list@nfbnet.org<br><b>Subject:</b> [Nfbnet-members-list] Fwd: Happy Anniversary of Blind Driver Challenge—Accelerating Our Efforts<o:p></o:p></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><blockquote style='margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt'><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=3 cellpadding=0><tr><td width=510 style='width:382.5pt;padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'></td></tr><tr><td width=510 style='width:382.5pt;padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></p><h1>Celebrating Tenth Anniversary of Blind Driver ChallengeAccelerating Our Efforts<o:p></o:p></h1><p class=MsoNormal><br><br>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 <a href="https://www.nfb.org/libraries/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=19821&qid=4828176">Dan Parker</a> 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.<br><br>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, <a href="https://www.nfb.org/libraries/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=19831&qid=4828176">Mark Riccobono, now President of the National Federation of the Blind, independently operated a modified Ford Escape hybrid</a> 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. <br><br>“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.”<br><br>“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.”<br><br>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.<br><br>Stay tuned for more exciting details on the <a href="https://www.nfb.org/libraries/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=19822&qid=4828176">Blind Driver Challenge</a>.<o:p></o:p></p></td></tr></table><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></p><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=3 cellpadding=0><tr><td width=16 style='width:12.0pt;padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'></td><td width=16 style='width:12.0pt;padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'><p class=MsoNormal><a href="https://www.nfb.org/libraries/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=19823&qid=4828176"><span style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=50 height=35 style='width:.525in;height:.3666in' id="_x0000_i1030" src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/images/iof-facebook-ms.png" alt="Facebook Logo"></span></a><a href="https://www.nfb.org/libraries/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=19823&qid=4828176"> </a><o:p></o:p></p></td><td width=16 style='width:12.0pt;padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'><p class=MsoNormal><a href="https://www.nfb.org/libraries/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=19824&qid=4828176"><span style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=50 height=35 style='width:.525in;height:.3666in' id="_x0000_i1029" src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/images/iof-twitter-ms.png" alt="Twitter Logo"></span></a><o:p></o:p></p></td><td width=16 style='width:12.0pt;padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'><p class=MsoNormal><a href="https://www.nfb.org/libraries/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=19825&qid=4828176"><span style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=50 height=35 style='width:.525in;height:.3666in' id="_x0000_i1028" src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/images/iof-instagram-ms.png" alt="Instagram Logo"></span></a><o:p></o:p></p></td><td width=16 style='width:12.0pt;padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'><p class=MsoNormal><a href="https://www.nfb.org/libraries/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=19826&qid=4828176"><span style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=51 height=35 style='width:.5333in;height:.3666in' id="_x0000_i1027" src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/images/iof-youtube-ms.png" alt="YouTube Logo"></span></a><o:p></o:p></p></td><td width=16 style='width:12.0pt;padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'><p class=MsoNormal><a href="https://www.nfb.org/libraries/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=19827&qid=4828176"><span style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=50 height=35 style='width:.525in;height:.3666in' id="_x0000_i1026" src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/images/iof-email-ms.png" alt="Email Icon Image"></span></a><o:p></o:p></p></td><td width=16 style='width:12.0pt;padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'><p class=MsoNormal><a href="https://www.nfb.org/libraries/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=19828&qid=4828176"><span style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=50 height=35 style='width:.525in;height:.3666in' id="_x0000_i1025" src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/images/iof-donte-ms.png" alt="Donate to the NFB Icon."></span></a><o:p></o:p></p></td><td width=16 style='width:12.0pt;padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'></td></tr><tr><td width=128 colspan=8 style='width:96.0pt;padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'>National Federation of the Blind | 200 E Wells Street | Baltimore, MD 21230 | 410-659-9314 <o:p></o:p></p></td></tr><tr><td width=128 colspan=8 style='width:96.0pt;padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><a href="https://www.nfb.org/civicrm/mailing/unsubscribe?reset=1&jid=15865&qid=4828176&h=ef2f00db0ee60154">Unsubscribe</a> | <a href="https://www.nfb.org/civicrm/mailing/optout?reset=1&jid=15865&qid=4828176&h=ef2f00db0ee60154">Opt Out</a> | <a href="https://www.nfb.org/libraries/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=19829&qid=4828176">Sign Up for Our E-newsletter</a> <o:p></o:p></p></td></tr><tr><td width=128 colspan=8 style='width:96.0pt;padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><br>200 East Wells St.<br>Baltimore, 21230<br>United States.. <o:p></o:p></p></td></tr></table><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></blockquote></div></body></html>