[nfbmi-talk] Self Driving Car Takes Blind man to Taco Bell
Fred Wurtzel
f.wurtzel at att.net
Sun Apr 8 23:25:28 UTC 2012
Hello,
If I had a chance to use a self driving car, I'd go someplace cooler than
Taco Bell, but, Hey, each to their own.
Thanks to Kevin Reeves for this article. By the way, have you helped him
out with Kickstarter, yet. It's not too late.
Warmest Regards,
Fred
Google's self-driving car takes blind man to Taco Bell
Mike Flacy
March 28, 2012
By
Mike Flacy
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Satisfied with the progress made on development of the computer-controlled,
self-driving
car, Google offered up a preview of the technology to a blind resident of
California.
Mentioned on Google's official
Google+ account
recently, the development team behind the company's self-driving automobile
showed
off a YouTube video detailing the journey of Steve Mahan. Mahan, CEO of the
Santa
Clara Valley Blind Center, is a legally blind resident of Morgan Hill,
California.
Since Google employees have tested the self-driving Toyota Prius for more
than 200,000
miles, company officials felt confident of Mahan's safety during an outing
to a fast
food restaurant as well as a stop to pick up some dry cleaning. The
self-driving
car did make headlines during August 2011 when the vehicle rear-ended
another Prius,
but that accident was
attributed to human error
. The computer-operated vehicle took Mahan through the drive-through at Taco
Bell
using technology like radar sensors and video cameras equipped on the
vehicle.
mahan-google-car
Without a driver's license, Google had to get permission from the local
police department
to allow Mahan to sit in the driver's seat while the vehicle was in motion.
The Morgan
Hill Police Department placed Sergeant Troy Hoefling in the car with Mahan
for the
duration of the trip in order to avoid any legal issues.
In the video, Mahan states "
95 percent of my vision is gone. I'm well past legally blind. You lose your
timing
in life; everything takes you much longer. There are some places that you
cannot
go. There are some things that you really cannot do. Where this would change
my life
is to give me the independence and the flexibility to go to the places I
both want
to go and need to go when I need to do those things.
"
While this technology is likely many years away from becoming mainstream
among consumers,
Google has accomplished small steps towards establishing regulations that
will allow
self-driving vehicles on the road. During February 2012, Nevada became
the first state
to approve the use of self-driving vehicles on the roadways. Nevada state
officials
are also working on creating licensing procedures to allow car manufacturers
to test
cars within the state. Nevada residents will be able to recognize these
self-driving
cars by the color of the license plate.
More info
Self-Driving Car Test: Steve Mahan
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In Case You Missed It:
Nevada DMV announces regulations for self-driving cars
Google petitions Nevada to allow self-driving cars
California senator rides in self-driving Google car, proposes autonomous
driving legislation
Destination, home: How fully autonomous driving might come sooner than we
think
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