<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)"><!--[if !mso]><style>v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style><![endif]--><style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
h1
{mso-style-priority:9;
mso-style-link:"Heading 1 Char";
mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
font-size:24.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
font-weight:bold;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
span.Heading1Char
{mso-style-name:"Heading 1 Char";
mso-style-priority:9;
mso-style-link:"Heading 1";
font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;
color:#2F5496;}
span.adr
{mso-style-name:adr;}
span.street-address
{mso-style-name:street-address;}
span.locality
{mso-style-name:locality;}
span.postal-code
{mso-style-name:postal-code;}
span.country-name
{mso-style-name:country-name;}
span.EmailStyle26
{mso-style-type:personal-reply;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
color:windowtext;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>For your information<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Tina <o:p></o:p></p><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b>ect:</b> Happy Anniversary of Blind Driver Challenge—Accelerating Our Efforts<o:p></o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width="100%" style='width:100.0%'><tr style='height:15.0pt'><td style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:15.0pt'><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p></td></tr><tr><td valign=top style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><div align=center><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=600 style='width:6.25in'><tr><td style='background:white;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=left width="100%" style='width:100.0%'><tr style='height:7.5pt'><td width="100%" valign=top style='width:100.0%;background:#0075C9;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:7.5pt'><div align=center><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0><tr><td style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0><tr><td style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><span style='border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in'><img width=100 height=100 style='width:1.0416in;height:1.0416in' id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:~WRD0005.jpg" alt="Image removed by sender."></span><o:p></o:p></p></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td style='background:white;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=left width="100%" style='width:100.0%'><tr style='height:7.5pt'><td width="100%" valign=top style='width:100.0%;background:white;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:7.5pt'><div align=center><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0><tr><td style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0><tr><td style='padding:15.0pt 15.0pt 15.0pt 15.0pt'><p class=MsoNormal><a href="nfb.org"><span style='border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in;text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=100 height=100 style='width:1.0416in;height:1.0416in' id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:~WRD0005.jpg" alt="Image removed by sender. National Federation of the Blind logo and tagline live the life you want"></span></a><o:p></o:p></p></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td style='background:white;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;border-color:initial'><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=left width=600 style='width:6.25in'><tr style='height:15.0pt'><td width="100%" valign=top style='width:100.0%;background:white;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:15.0pt'><h1><strong><span style='font-size:28.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'>Celebrating Tenth Anniversary of Blind Driver Challenge—Accelerating Our Efforts</span></strong><o:p></o:p></h1><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>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 </span><span style='color:black'><a href="https://www.nfb.org/libraries/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=19821&qid=4827769"><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Dan Parker</span></a></span><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'> 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 per hour.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>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=4827769">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 input from 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. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>“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 that will enhance the mobility and independence of blind Americans.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>“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. My 2008 Corvette is a purpose-built race car and I designed every aspect of it.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>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.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>Stay tuned for more exciting details on the </span><span style='color:black'><a href="https://www.nfb.org/libraries/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=19822&qid=4827769"><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Blind Driver Challenge</span></a></span><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>.</span><o:p></o:p></p></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr style='height:6.0pt'><td style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:6.0pt'><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;display:none'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div align=center><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=600 style='width:6.25in;background:#002F6D'><tr style='height:45.0pt'><td width=135 style='width:101.25pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:45.0pt'></td><td width=55 style='width:41.25pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:45.0pt'><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:white'><a href="https://www.nfb.org/libraries/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=19823&qid=4827769"><span style='border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in;text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=100 height=100 style='width:1.0416in;height:1.0416in' id="Picture_x0020_3" src="cid:~WRD0005.jpg" alt="Image removed by sender. Facebook Logo"></span></a></span><o:p></o:p></p></td><td width=55 style='width:41.25pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:45.0pt'><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:white'><a href="https://www.nfb.org/libraries/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=19824&qid=4827769"><span style='border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in;text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=100 height=100 style='width:1.0416in;height:1.0416in' id="Picture_x0020_4" src="cid:~WRD0005.jpg" alt="Image removed by sender. Twitter Logo"></span></a></span><o:p></o:p></p></td><td width=55 style='width:41.25pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:45.0pt'><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:white'><a href="https://www.nfb.org/libraries/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=19825&qid=4827769"><span style='border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in;text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=100 height=100 style='width:1.0416in;height:1.0416in' id="Picture_x0020_5" src="cid:~WRD0005.jpg" alt="Image removed by sender. Instagram Logo"></span></a></span><o:p></o:p></p></td><td width=55 style='width:41.25pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:45.0pt'><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:white'><a href="https://www.nfb.org/libraries/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=19826&qid=4827769"><span style='border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in;text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=100 height=100 style='width:1.0416in;height:1.0416in' id="Picture_x0020_6" src="cid:~WRD0005.jpg" alt="Image removed by sender. YouTube Logo"></span></a></span><o:p></o:p></p></td><td width=55 style='width:41.25pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:45.0pt'><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:white'><a href="https://www.nfb.org/libraries/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=19827&qid=4827769"><span style='border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in;text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=100 height=100 style='width:1.0416in;height:1.0416in' id="Picture_x0020_7" src="cid:~WRD0005.jpg" alt="Image removed by sender. Email Icon Image"></span></a></span><o:p></o:p></p></td><td width=55 style='width:41.25pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:45.0pt'><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:white'><a href="https://www.nfb.org/libraries/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=19828&qid=4827769"><span style='border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in;text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=100 height=100 style='width:1.0416in;height:1.0416in' id="Picture_x0020_8" src="cid:~WRD0005.jpg" alt="Image removed by sender. Donate to the NFB Icon."></span></a></span><o:p></o:p></p></td><td width=135 style='width:101.25pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:45.0pt'></td></tr><tr style='height:18.75pt'><td colspan=8 style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:18.75pt'><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:white'>National Federation of the Blind | 200 E Wells Street | Baltimore, MD 21230 | 410-659-9314 <o:p></o:p></span></b></p></td></tr><tr style='height:18.75pt'><td colspan=8 style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:18.75pt'><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:white'><a href="https://www.nfb.org/civicrm/mailing/unsubscribe?reset=1&jid=15865&qid=4827769&h=594347cb5740bd10" title=Unsubscribe><span style='color:white'>Unsubscribe</span></a> | <a href="https://www.nfb.org/civicrm/mailing/optout?reset=1&jid=15865&qid=4827769&h=594347cb5740bd10" title="Opt Out"><span style='color:white'>Opt Out</span></a> | <a href="https://www.nfb.org/libraries/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=19829&qid=4827769" title="Sign up for email newsletter"><span style='color:white'>Sign Up for Our E-newsletter</span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p></td></tr><tr><td colspan=8 style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><div><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><span class=street-address><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:white'>200 East Wells St.</span></b></span><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:white'><br><span class=locality>Baltimore</span><span class=adr>, </span><span class=postal-code>21230</span><br><span class=country-name>United States</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p></div><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:white'>.. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p></td></tr></table></div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;color:white;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in'><img border=0 width=1 height=1 style='width:.0104in;height:.0104in' id="Picture_x0020_9" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D6F671.BAFC69D0" alt="Image removed by sender."></span><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div></body></html>