[Nfbv-potomac-announce] FW: New NCD Report on Self Driving Cars

[John Halverson]

Good Morning,

Brian is correct.  I think you will find this of interest.

Thank you Brian.

John


-----Original Message-----
From: BrianMiller [mailto:brianrmiller88 at gmail.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, November 03, 2015 1:14 PM
To: Halverson John
Cc: Beverly Coney
Subject: New NCD Report on Self Driving Cars

John,

I thought the below notice about the NCD's report and recommendations
regarding self-driving/driverless cars might be of interest to our chapter
membership.  

Thanks,

Brian M

 

Self-Driving Cars the Focus of Latest Report from the National Council on
Disability

 

Concord, NH - On Monday, November 2, 2015, the National Council on
Disability (NCD)-an independent federal agency that advises the President,
Congress and other federal agencies on disability policy-will release "Self
Driving Cars: Mapping Access to a Technology Revolution" at its quarterly
meeting in Concord, NH with a brief summary of the report's findings and
recommendations.

 

The new report maps out the emerging revolution in transportation technology
and explores the ways these advances have the potential to increase
independence for people with disabilities, along with an examination of the
various roadblocks that may be encountered en route to that destination. The
report evaluates current technology, regulatory considerations, and
obstacles both scientific and political; and provides recommendations for
preventing or eliminating barriers, including model legislative language.

 

DATE: Monday, November 2

TIME: 11 am - 11:30 am ET

LOCATION: Capitol Center for the Arts, Governors Hall, 44 South Main Street,
Concord, NH 03301

 

"Adopting the recommendations offered by NCD will ensure that people with
disabilities are not left at the side of the road as self-driving technology
is developed and advanced," said Clyde Terry, NCD Chair. "All Americans,
including people with disabilities, should have an equal opportunity to
benefit from and realize the freedom that fully autonomous vehicles promise
to provide."

 

"The Council looks forward to working with the Administration, Congress,
automobile manufacturers and innovators in the tech industry to ensure that
people with disabilities have a role in both helping develop and to realize
the maximum benefits possible from these exciting and emerging advances,"
added Janice Lehrer-Stein, NCD Councilmember who spearheaded the report.

 

Key recommendations of the report include:

 

--Funding proposals for the research or development of autonomous vehicles
should include accessibility requirements for people with disabilities,
including compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.

--Licensing at the state level should include national guidelines developed
by the United States Department of Transportation. These should not impose
undue or unnecessary limits on people with disabilities.

--Congress should pass legislation requiring full disability access for all
types of common and public use autonomous vehicles developed and informed,
to a large degree, with the input and guidance of manufacturers, an
appropriate disability advisory committee, and the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration.

--Congress should expressly forbid discrimination on the basis of disability
by states or any other government authority in licensing, and should
withhold federal highway funds to states that do not comply, a practice that
would parallel existing reasonable legal drinking age restrictions.

 

A digital copy of the report can be read or downloaded from NCD's website
online:

http://www.ncd.gov/publications/2015/self-driving-cars-mapping-access-techno
logy-revolution

 

About the National Council on Disability (NCD): First established as an
advisory Council within the Department of Education in 1978, NCD became an
independent federal agency in 1984. In 1986, NCD recommended enactment of an
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and drafted the first version of the
bill which was introduced in the House and Senate in 1988. Since enactment
of the ADA in 1990, NCD has continued to play a leading role in crafting
disability policy, and advising the President, Congress and other federal
agencies on disability policies, programs, and practices.

 

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