[Nfbc-info] Nfbc-info Digest, Vol 127, Issue 17

[Jordan Mirander]

So, why stay there, and have our convention there in 2016 when there are Doubble Tree hotels all over Southern California? I mean there's Doubletree Culver City or the best in  tech  convention was held why not have our state convention there

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> On Dec 20, 2015, at 4:00 AM, nfbc-info-request at nfbnet.org wrote:
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> Today's Topics:
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>   1. Re: Nfbc-info Digest, Vol 127, Issue 13 (Brian Buhrow)
> 
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Message: 1
> Date: Sat, 19 Dec 2015 12:45:56 -0800
> From: Brian Buhrow <buhrow at nfbcal.org>
> To: NFB of California List <nfbc-info at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Jordan Mirander <jordanmirander at icloud.com>, buhrow at nfbcal.org
> Subject: Re: [Nfbc-info] Nfbc-info Digest, Vol 127, Issue 13
> Message-ID: <201512192045.tBJKjuon009930 at lothlorien.nfbcal.org>
> 
>    Hello Jordan.  The arguments you site will be the ones folks use
> against us when they argue that the blind should not be allowed to operate
> autonomous vehicles.  However, these arguments are misguided.  You've heard
> the old addage that too many cooks spoil the broth?  The same is true for
> driving a car.  If the car is under computer control and suddenly it needs
> the human to take over, there is no way that control can be transfered from
> computer to human fast enough to be safe.  Right now, Google and other
> companies are testing these vehicles and the drivers are sitting in the
> car, ready to take over instantly if there is a problem.  However, put
> these machines in the main stream, and you can bet that people won't be
> paying enough attention to affect a hand-off in a timely enough manner.  I
> believe Google has already discovered this in their testing, which is why
> they're arguing against driver control of any kind.
> 
>    The second myth is that humans are safe drivers.  The sad truth is
> that 40,000 folks lose their lives in the US every year due to auto
> accidents.  I live in a town of 60,000 people.  That number means that a
> population equivalent to the size of the town I live in is lost every 18
> months.  That number has remained high despite a myriad of safety features
> that have been introduced into vehicles in the past 20 years.  Yet, we, as
> a society, have decided that the benefits of driving out weigh this
> tragically high rate of loss.  (And we're not even talking about injuries
> due to auto accidents.)
> 
>    I believe autonomous vehicles will become a standard feature of our
> society and there's no reason an autonomous vehicle can't safely be operated
> by a blind person.  In order for that to happen, however, we need to step
> up now and do what we can to assure that fear and prejudice don't cause us
> to be legislated out of this revolution.  The technology isn't mature
> enough to allow just any driver to operate these vehicles safely yet, but
> when it is, we should make sure the problems we have to solve in order to
> gain access are technical, not political.  The path to this access won't be
> straightforward or without bumps and setbacks, but if we as a community
> stick by our convictions and demonstrate that the arguments against us are
> fallacious, by degrees, we will prevail.  
> 
>    Finally, Jordan, I want to assure you that your concerns aren't
> entirely unfounded.  Eye sight confer's one with the ability to potentially
> gather information quickly.  That provides an advantage in a variety of
> situations.  Howevr, that advantage does not preclude the blind from
> being able to find alternative ways to gather the required information and
> make their own decisions.  We as a blind community know that we are capable
> of doing what ever we want and we know that safely operating an autonomous
> vehicle is well within our perview as capable members of society.  The
> challenge is to figure out how, exactly, to do it and how to persuade our
> sighted peers that we can.
> 
> -thanks
> -Brian
> 
> 
> 
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> End of Nfbc-info Digest, Vol 127, Issue 17
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