Are autonomous cars the answer for disabled people, older adults and visually impaired people for being more mobile in the future? Tech and transportation writer Diana Furchtgott-Roth believes so, but believes it’ll be many years before autonomous cars become widely used, as she notes in her article on Forbes.com.
While there are currently programs that makes transportation available, such as a ride-share program for seniors and visually impaired people developed by The nonprofit Independent Transportation Network of America (ITNAmerica) available in 100 locations across the U.S., driving accessibility has much progress to make to make getting around by car available to everyone. While services like Uber and Lyft do provide door-to-door service in many cities, Furchtgott-Roth notes that many older adults do not feel comfortable with these services and prefer a more personal level of service.
Another valid point she makes? For the small group of older adults who are poor drivers (it’s a stereotype that all older folks are bad drivers), if driving accessibility were better, these drivers could more readily give up driving. Currently, many continue to drive even though they shouldn’t because doing so means giving up their independence and means of getting to work and to socialize.
To learn more about the ride program ITNAmerica offers and how the changing demographics make the issue of driving accessibility one that must be addressed now, you can find her article here.
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