[Nfbofnc] FW: Article from Asheville Citizen Times Sports 2011 01 29

[Gary H. Ray]

NFB of NC:

Here is a copy of an article in the Asheville Citizen Times from Saturday.
It talks about the trip of our local Asheville President who went to Florida
for the BDC.

The way I did this article was to have it emailed to me out of Newsline.  If
you wish info on how I did that email me.

I am headed to DC tomorrow for the Washington Seminar.

Gary Ray
President
NFB of NC

*****Newsline Article***********

Blind drivers debut new technology at Daytona   Local man at race track for
historic event     Keith Jarrett 

Gary Davis will be at Daytona International Speedway this morning, but he's
not there for the racing. 

The Montreat College professor will witness a historic event, one he hopes
sets the stage for a rather revolutionary idea. 

Davis is the president of the Buncombe County chapter for the National
Federation of the Blind, and he will be in the grandstands along with about
500 members from across the country when a blind person gets into a
specially designed car and drives around the 2.5-mile tri-oval track famous
as the home of the Daytona 500. 

It's exciting to be a part of this, and I'll be cheering the car on, Davis
said earlier this week before his trip to Florida. 

The end goal is to one day be able to drive on the street, and, in my
opinion, that's something we can maybe do in two or three years. 

The Blind Driver Challenge is part of prerace festivities for the 49th
running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona. 

Mark Riccobono, 34, will take part in a public demonstration, driving
independently with the help of new nonvisual technology and a specially
modified car, a Ford Escape Hybrid. Riccobono will drive a portion of the
same course as the drivers in the race. 

I pretty much shut out the idea that driving was possible, because I didn't
want to focus on that aspect of something I couldn't do, said Riccobono, who
has been legally blind since age 5 and was selected from a group of test
drivers to be behind the wheel. But I think this project is a clear example
that when you dream big and put your heart and resources into it, you get to
unimagined places. 

Riccobono is director of the Blind Driver Challenge's Jernigan Institute. 

Instituted in 2004, the challenge hopes to eventually establish nonvisual
interface technology to the point where the blind can drive with the same
degree of safety and reliability as a sighted person. 

Davis said two prototype cars developed at Virginia Tech to aid blind
drivers are equipped with lots of sensors and GPS technology. 

With all the computer technology we have now, it helps level the playing
field and gives us a lot of access, Davis said. 

We see blindness more as a physical nuisance and less as a handicap, and the
inability to drive is something we believe we can overcome. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.   .