“As a blind person, I am in favor of driverless cars…I really really really really want driverless cars right now! Free at last! Free at last free at last!”
Comment on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEebyt6G5kM
Comment on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEebyt6G5kM
Many disability advocates have begun to see the prospect of the driverless car or autonomous vehicle (AV) as a truly revolutionary mobility solution. Although it is entirely possible that predictions of an imminent driverless car revolution have been overhyped (1), let us assume that the model of ‘Mobility as a Service’ takes hold. In the future, it becomes the norm for people to summon a driverless (electric) car that meets their requirements at a moments notice through an app, ‘Uber-style’. Payment will be based on use and because of the economics of intensively-used vehicles, to own and use a private vehicle will become unattractive for most people.
It is easy to envisage the advantages that on-demand driverless vehicles would offer to many people with a disability especially for those who cannot currently drive, such as people with visual impairments, conditions such as epilepsy and certain physical conditions (2). We can assume (perhaps rashly) that driverless vehicles are designed in order to be physically accessible to a wide range of people with various disabilities and mobility requirements (including wheelchair users). Autonomous vehicles (AVs) will appeal to people who need or prefer door-to door transport, while for drivers, problems with ‘parking’ should be greatly simplified, if not eliminated. There is also evidence (3) that some disabled people are discouraged from using public transport by the potential attitudes of other passengers or drivers, a problem which driverless cars would eliminate.
On the other hand, AVs may present a number of barriers for many disabled people. Those who lack confidence in travelling, or who experience high degrees of anxiety, may continue to want the reassurance of a human presence in order to travel. This may apply particularly to older people, especially the very elderly, people with dementia and people who require personal assistance even with mundane tasks like getting their coat on. Another factor of course will be cost; we don’t yet know what the costs of AV use would be, but even if they are much cheaper than private cars, many disabled people may be unable to afford them. Availability (and cost) in rural areas may be especially problematic.
How people access and use the AV’s themselves is not of course the only issue; the impact of AVs on streets and other road users - especially pedestrians - is another important element of the whole package. We know that safe pedestrian environments are important for many older people to travel with confidence (4). The speed and proximity of AVs to pedestrian spaces, the functioning of pedestrian crossings in an AV environment and the redesign of streets where parking is no longer required are other aspects that need to be thought carefully through.
Like any service under development, there is a risk that unless disabled people are involved early on, questionable assumptions about what they can or want to do are made; for example, in this an article on the driverless cars in the Huffington Post: “For obvious reasons, those with physical disabilities often cannot learn to drive cars, but it also extends to those with mental incapacities; for example, those with epilepsy” (5).
The key must surely be early involvement of disabled people not only in technical design of autonomous vehicles themselves but also in the planning of the whole service model, so that an ‘inclusive design’ approach is taken at the outset. While it is encouraging that projects like GATEway have begun to explore this area (6), there was no discussion of the impact of AVs on disabled people in the UK Department of Transport’s Pathway to driverless cars published last month (7). There is, as the Ruderman Foundation concluded last year, “an urgent need to develop a common agenda at the intersection between autonomous vehicles and disability policy” (8). This requires much clearer and more transparent engagement at all levels between disabled people, technical and regulatory agencies in both the public and private sectors.
Like any service under development, there is a risk that unless disabled people are involved early on, questionable assumptions about what they can or want to do are made; for example, in this an article on the driverless cars in the Huffington Post: “For obvious reasons, those with physical disabilities often cannot learn to drive cars, but it also extends to those with mental incapacities; for example, those with epilepsy” (5).
The key must surely be early involvement of disabled people not only in technical design of autonomous vehicles themselves but also in the planning of the whole service model, so that an ‘inclusive design’ approach is taken at the outset. While it is encouraging that projects like GATEway have begun to explore this area (6), there was no discussion of the impact of AVs on disabled people in the UK Department of Transport’s Pathway to driverless cars published last month (7). There is, as the Ruderman Foundation concluded last year, “an urgent need to develop a common agenda at the intersection between autonomous vehicles and disability policy” (8). This requires much clearer and more transparent engagement at all levels between disabled people, technical and regulatory agencies in both the public and private sectors.
References
1) Driverless cars: the road ahead is difficult, NESTA, July 2016
2) Driverless driving for disabled people within the decade? Robin Christopherson, June 2016
3) Understanding why some people do not use buses, Scottish Government Social Research 2010
4) Importance of safe pedestrian environments to ensure older people travel with confidence. Musselwhite, C, October 2016
5) Huffington Post, January 2017
6) GATEway demonstrates how teleoperation and autonomy can improve mobility for disabled drivers, GATEway, January 2017
7) Pathway to driverless cars, DfT January 2017
8) Ruderman Family Foundation, January 2017
1) Driverless cars: the road ahead is difficult, NESTA, July 2016
2) Driverless driving for disabled people within the decade? Robin Christopherson, June 2016
3) Understanding why some people do not use buses, Scottish Government Social Research 2010
4) Importance of safe pedestrian environments to ensure older people travel with confidence. Musselwhite, C, October 2016
5) Huffington Post, January 2017
6) GATEway demonstrates how teleoperation and autonomy can improve mobility for disabled drivers, GATEway, January 2017
7) Pathway to driverless cars, DfT January 2017
8) Ruderman Family Foundation, January 2017
RSS Feed
