[nfbmi-talk] Self Driving Car Takes Blind man to Taco Bell

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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