[nfbwatlk] FW: Public Affairs: NCD Commends NHTSA Recommendations on Autonomous Vehicles

[Nightingale, Noel]

-----Original Message-----
From: Lawrence Carter-Long for the National Council on Disability [mailto:LCarterLong at NCD.GOV] 
Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2016 2:34 PM
To: NCD-NEWS-L at LIST.NCD.GOV
Subject: Public Affairs: NCD Commends NHTSA Recommendations on Autonomous Vehicles

Posted: September 22, 2016
Link: http://go.usa.gov/xKep7

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National Council on Disability Commends NHTSA Recommendations on Autonomous Vehicles
Urges Continued Commitment to Universal Design in Research, Development and Regulation

The National Council on Disability (NCD) commends the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration (NHTSA) for its inclusion of people with disabilities in discussions leading to the release of its “Federal Autonomous Vehicle Policy” guidance on Tuesday, September 20.

In its guidance, NHTSA acknowledged the importance of the disability community when it wrote, “...this Policy is the product of significant input from stakeholders across the spectrum of voices from the traveling public, traffic safety professionals, researchers, industry, government, the disabled community and others.”

Of specific interest to the Council, NHTSA not only involved stakeholders with disabilities from the beginning of their inquiry, they also echoed recommendations made by NCD in their 2015 report “Self Driving Cars: Mapping Access to a Technology Revolution” which urged NHTSA not to impose limitations on people with disabilities through unnecessary licensure requirements to the extent possible, and to base any limitations on actual risk rather than unsubstantiated fears.

“NCD is pleased that NHTSA has included disabled stakeholders from the earliest stages of the process and that several of NCD’s recommendations made in 2015 were adopted,” said NCD Chair Clyde Terry. “We are encouraged by NHTSA’s positive first steps and urge them to make good on their commitment to universal design for autonomous vehicles in their next version of this policy so millions of disabled people who can’t currently drive and have, until now, been left at the curb, will be able to utilize this technology to the fullest extent possible in keeping with the ADA’s goal of full participation in society.”

As autonomous vehicle research and development, as well as policymaking moves forward, NCD will continue to collaborate with and advise NHTSA, Congress, and other federal partners to ensure that universal design and accessibility remain central and guiding themes in autonomous vehicles and other technological advances.

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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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