Can someone forward copies of the Bombay high court and supreme court
judgments on reservation policy for PWDs.
Please send the copies to my email ID
rajasekhar.vij...@gmail.com
Regards,
Rajasekhar
-----Original Message-----
From: AccessIndia [mailto:accessindia-boun...@accessindia.org.in] On
Behalf
Of avinash shahi
Sent: Friday, November 21, 2014 11:20 PM
To: accessindia; jnuvision
Subject: [AI] Special post: In Self-Driving Cars, a Potential Lifeline
for
the Disabled
By PAUL STENQUISTNOV
Inside Photo Audi is testing its self-driving cars on California
roads. Credit Audi of America
The self-driving car, embraced as a stress-reducing convenience for
harried drivers and a potential advance in road safety, could also
prove to be a life-changing breakthrough for many people with
disabilities, granting them a new measure of independence.
While much of the necessary technology is well along in development,
those awaiting vehicles that can provide unassisted transportation
will have to be patient.
Self-driving cars have been the stuff of science fiction and
experimentation since the early days of the automobile. In 1925, Time
magazine carried an article about a car that cruised New York City
streets without a driver, guided by radio control. The General Motors
Futurama exhibition at the 1939 New York World's Fair depicted a
future of self-driving cars by the industrial designer Norman Bel
Geddes.
The Bel Geddes vision, with its implications for the disabled, may be
getting closer to reality. Automakers have demonstrated cars capable
of self-driving operation, and in August the chief executive of
Nissan, Carlos Ghosn, said the automaker would offer a car with
"autonomous drive technology" by 2020.
Photo Nissan, one of the companies that has shown self-driving
vehicles in public, has announced that it will offer autonomous
vehicles by 2020. Credit Nissan North America Mr. Ghosn did not
promise a vehicle that could be operated without a driver at the
wheel, and a Nissan spokeswoman, Wendy Payne, said the company had not
studied the disability issue.
Confirming that Nissan's first self-driving car would require an able
driver, she said that all automakers were taking that approach: "At
this point, the driver has to be able to operate the vehicle."
G.M. is among the makers demonstrating self-driving prototypes, and a
driver-assistance technology that it calls Super Cruise, to be
introduced in 2017 model Cadillacs, makes partly autonomous operation
possible on the highway. Still, the company is reserved in its
optimism.
"We believe that one day there will be fully automated cars that drive
themselves under all circumstances," a G.M. spokesman, Dan Flores,
said about the potential of driverless vehicles for the handicapped.
"A lot of societal benefits are possible, but we're years away from
achieving those benefits."
Audi recently obtained a permit to test self-driving cars on
California roads. But the cars are equipped with manual controls so a
driver can take over if necessary.
"Present-day tech developed by every automaker and accepted by state
laws requires human ability to take over," a company spokesman, Brad
Stertz, wrote in an email. "Fully autonomous driving is mostly a human
generation away, no matter who is making promises."
Google is making promises, or at least offering suggestions. The
company, which declined to provide an interview for this article, has
developed two prototypes. The first was a standard vehicle fitted with
sensors, hardware and computers that enabled self-driving. Equipped
with steering wheel and brakes, it could be operated by a backup
driver in an emergency.
The second-generation Google car is entirely driverless and has no
steering wheel or brake pedal. Driver intervention is impossible, even
in an emergency, so its design would be appropriate for people
physically unable to operate a vehicle.
In a blog post last April, Chris Umson, director of Google's
self-driving car project, said the company was growing more optimistic
about reaching an achievable goal -- "a vehicle that operates fully
without human intervention."
In a statement provided to The Times, Google said that the potential
of a self-driver to help those with disabilities could be realized
only if the human operator were taken out of the equation. The company
maintains that denying the driver an active role in vehicle control
will also eliminate human error and improve driving safety.
Steve Mahan of Morgan Hill, Calif., executive director of the Santa
Clara Valley Blind Center, has ridden in both of Google's prototypes.
Mr. Mahon, 61, is legally blind. Google contacted him about three
years ago to discuss how self-driving vehicles might benefit the
disabled. He was offered a chance to experience Google's retrofitted
Toyota Prius and provide feedback. He has since ridden in the new
driverless prototype.
"My read on Google's approach is, how do you create vehicles that are
smart enough to drive on existing roadways," Mr. Mahan said in a phone
interview. "They're looking at a paradigm shift in transportation,
where the vehicles assume all of the driving tasks for efficiency and
safety."
He added: "I've been in the Google cars quite a bit in urban traffic
and highway. The technology is incredibly capable. They drive like
good drivers. I spoke to a programmer who helps define how the car
behaves. I told him, 'So you're the person who made these cars drive
like my wife.' "
Google's driverless vehicle is in testing. Because California law
requires that self-driving vehicles be fitted with backup manual
systems, the company has installed a temporary steering wheel and
controls. On a website devoted to the car, Google said, "We'll remove
these manual controls after the prototypes have finished being tested
and permitted, because our vehicles are ultimately designed to operate
without a human driver."
The marketplace -- together with regulators -- could have the final say
as to what type of autonomous car is ultimately offered for sale and
whether the vehicle could accommodate those incapable of controlling
the car manually.
Research doesn't suggest that a clear majority of drivers are eager to
turn the wheel over to a robotic driver. A survey by the Pew Research
Center and Smithsonian magazine, for example, found that 48 percent of
Americans would be interested in a self-driving car; 50 percent would
not. The survey did not attempt to determine whether those who were
accepting of self-driving technology would be willing to relinquish
all control to a vehicle without a steering wheel or brake pedal.
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration has not
issued regulations for self-driving vehicles, and it would not comment
for the record in regard to potential rules. But it has issued
guidelines for on-road testing and advised the states in regard to
on-road operation.
In a statement, the safety agency said that fully automated vehicles
required further testing and should be equipped with backup steering
and brake controls during the testing period. That means that a driver
must be capable of taking control of the vehicle -- an action that may
not be feasible for people with severe disabilities.
Not everyone who lacks the mobility needed to drive a conventional car
wants a driverless car. Bruce Chargo, a 55-year-old financial planner
from Clio, Mich., who is paralyzed below his chest and has no control
of his hands, feet or back muscles, drives specially equipped vehicles
with his upper arms and head.
"A self-driving car isn't for me," he said in a telephone interview.
"There are very few things I can do independently, but I can drive. If
self-driving cars reach dealer showrooms, funding for vehicles like
mine might not be available. That concerns me."
But Mr. Mahan, the director of the center for blind people, wants to
be mobile as well, and alternative-control systems can't enable a
vision-impaired driver.
"I miss driving," he said. "My experience with Google has been
terrific, and I want it to happen. Everyone in the blind community
wants it to happen."
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/automobiles/in-self-driving-cars-a-potenti
al-lifeline-for-the-disabled.html?_r=0
--
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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