‘No Hands’: Blind Mand Tests Google’s Self-Driving Car
- Posted on March 30, 2012 at 1:33pm by
Liz Klimas
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Steve Mahan, a legally blind man, sits in the driver's seat.
Steve Mahan doesn‘t have a driver’s license. He is 95 percent blind — well beyond the legal limit to get behind the wheel of a car — yet he was recently in the driver’s seat as rolled through a Taco Bell drive-thru and picked up his dry cleaning.
How? Google’s self-driving car. Google has been testing its hands- and feet-free car since 2010 and was recently awarded a patent on the technology. In a Google+ post, the company stated it conducted the test with Mahan as a “technical experiment outside of our core research efforts” to demonstrate how this technology could benefit society if “rigorous technical and safety standards can be met.”
Watch Mahan take the car for a spin:
As PC Magazine points out, having a blind man drive a car under most circumstances would be illegal, but the Morgan Hill Police Department said this test drive was conducted in accordance with the law. Detective Sgt. Troy Hoefling oversaw the test and also told the magazine that there is no law in California governing how self-driving vehicles are to be operated:
“Where I justified it was that I compared it to a 15-year-old taking driver’s ed,” he said. “Unlicensed, learning to drive, with a licensed person next to them that could take control in an emergency situation.”
According to Hoefling, the passenger in a Google car can take control in three ways: via a brake pedal on the passenger side that can stop the vehicle, via an emergency stop button on the center console that can be reached by anyone in the vehicle, and by means of the laptop the Google representative is seen holding. In all three cases, the car can be stopped, but not remotely controlled except by the driver’s steering wheel, he said.
Police were in the vicinity of Google’s self-driving car, but did not stop traffic or otherwise interfere, Hoefling said, who called the car’s performance across the mile and a half or so that it traversed “absolutely flawless.”
In the clip, Mahan jokes, “Look Mom, no hands. And no feet.” Mahan seems to sense where the vehicle is based on its speed and directional motion. He also says, “This is some of the best driving I’ve ever done.” Although traditional drivers may be advised against eating a taco with both their hands while riding down the road, Mahan does so with confidence that he and those around him are still safe.
No hands!
At the Taco Bell drive-thru.
On a more serious note though, Mahan says being “well-past legally blind“ is a disability that causes you to ”lose your timing in life.” He said everyday activities take much longer and there are some places he just cannot go. The technology inside Google’s driverless car, he said, would “change his life” by giving him independence and flexibility.
Fox News reports Eric Bridges, government affairs director for the American Council of the Blind, saying the “concept of it is pretty awesome,” but he acknowledges there are many hurdles to overcome before it is a reality for the blind community:
“There are a lot of hoops that are going to need to be jumped through in the years to come: Things like driver’s licenses and regulatory stuff to allow these vehicles to traverse roadways. But the technology is absolutely intriguing,” he said.
[...]
Bridges, who is himself completely blind, took a ride in Google’s self-driving car last year, on a visit to the company’s Mountain View, Calif., facility.
“We had it out on the Interstate and allowed it to take over. It was pretty amazing, going in between lanes, making sure there was enough distance between us and the car next to us in another lane,” he said.
Bridges noted that the technology has incredible potential not just for the disabled.
“Wouldn’t it be wild if you called for a taxi and a car showed up with no one in it? Wouldn’t that just be nuts? But conceivably, that could happen, given this technology.”
“They’re helping to change the world in a lot of ways,” he added.
According to Google, its research team has completed more than 220,000 miles of testing with the car, which uses software combining information collected from cameras inside the car and sensors outside the vehicle that help locate its position. It combines this information with Google Street View. Google said there is still much testing that needs to be conducted before the vehicle more officially hits the road but it’s getting there.
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4blackhorses
Posted on April 7, 2012 at 9:25pmThis is incredible. But think about what Bridges said, “when you called for a taxi and it showed up with no one in it”, geez!, how many Pakis, Iraqis and Afhganis would be lacking a space for their beads and “on-the-dash” rugs.
Report Post »MikeJoyous11
Posted on April 2, 2012 at 12:45amWhen I read this article, I felt like crying. I have a blind friend in Mexico. I wish this technology were available to the general public so that she also could drive. For the nay-sayers here, try putting a blindfold over your eyes for one HOUR! Then just try walking around your house, and maybe onto the street. Notice how scared you become, how helpless. Think of how wonderful it would be to have a car that you could drive, despite not being able to see!
Report Post »just lil old me
Posted on April 7, 2012 at 6:39pmThis is a great concept for not only blind people, but those who have various handicaps. Put in in a handicapped accessible van for paralyzed people. It is a better system than what is available now. Sure, there are drawbacks, but the benefits would out weigh the bad. Probably be less accidents.
Report Post »dmerwin
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 3:36pmIs it just me or does anyone else think this is a BAD idea.
Report Post »VoteBushIn12
Posted on April 2, 2012 at 2:50amIt’s just you.
You know what other technology people thought was a bad idea?
Electricity.
“I don’t want lethal levels of electricity flowing through my walls! That’ll burn my house down!”
And they’re right, it can – and has. But the benefits far outweigh the risks by many magnitudes.
This technology is no different. Think of how much closer together cars could drive, and at such higher speeds. This might begin to alleviate traffic congestion.
Report Post »WakeUp
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 11:12amGreat technology! Too bad they dimished it by putting it in the fools-mobile (Prius)
Report Post »Quiata
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 8:52amMand? As in “Look Mom, no MANDS?”
Liz: Check the headline before going to print, as it’s the focal point of the article. Or as the old saying goes, “Measure twice, cut once”.
Report Post »TheFederalist
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 6:56amWith all the idiot, stupid things sighted people do while driving these days, perhaps all cars should become self driving.
Report Post »FreedomPurveyor
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 9:12pmJust remember that if you aren’t driving, whatever is driving will be regulated by the government
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 10:48pmtruly remarkable.
Report Post »supressorgrid
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 9:41pmAnd you wonder why they put braille on drive up ATMs.
Report Post »VoteBushIn12
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 8:49pmCome on Blaze! I thought we HATED Google!
Where’s the outrage over this Google product?
Is Google the company of the devil or isn’t it, I’m so confused…
Report Post »Wyatt's Torch
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 7:01pmA blind mand driving a car that doesn’t make a sound, running on Windows, relying on Google, and just ate at Taco Bell…what could possibly go wrong? What happens if the blind mand hits the big button on the center console, or is that just the “easy button”?
Report Post »RamonPreston
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 6:12pmHere’s some news for you. Blind people CAN have drivers licenses. I have a blind friend who has a drivers licence. Unfortunately it’s stamped “For Identification only.” A lot a places only accept drivers licenses as proof of id. You can’t even get on an airplane without a drivers licence.
Report Post »VoteBushIn12
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 8:48pmThat’s called a state license. A Drivers License permits you to drive. A State License, which looks exactly like a drivers license, but with the lettering “For Identification Purposes Only”, does not allow you to drive.
So no, your blind friend does not have a Drivers License.
Report Post »FreedomPurveyor
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 3:59pmRemember the scene in Minority Report where his car gets taken over?
Report Post »B4B
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 3:12pmHow long before it becomes self-aware?
GOOGLE = SKYNET
Report Post »froggy19510
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 1:15pmWonder what will happen when his IP drops coverage. What a hoot!
Report Post »oswell
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 1:09pmHey Mand, you effed up the headline deucebags
Report Post »Wyatt's Torch
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 6:33pmduecebags?….lol
Report Post »Sirfoldallot
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 4:05pmWhat was that ? Must of been a speed bumb.
Report Post »Sirfoldallot
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 4:04pmAwww **** , watch out solar fare
Report Post »iblvingd
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 3:59pm‘No Hands’: Blind Mand Tests Google’s Self-Driving Car Am I reading this right? The Blaze seriously needs a proof reader before posting.
Report Post »Common.Cents
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 7:58pmI seriously didn’t notice it before you pointed it out. haha. I would have been a horrible editor.
Report Post »AmazingGrace8
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 2:33pmActually the story was wrong & not the heading…one part of the story was a story about the classic-line we kids would shout (just our buddies around & no parents) when we would take both hands off the pedal bike handles “Look Ma, No Hands”.
Report Post »This is a true story from my childhood..being the baby of the family, would get teased by my older siblings. They were teaching me how to ride a bike & eventually, let go of the bike & whow–it was great..I was doing it all by myself….then I realized they didn’t show me how to “break/stop”.So, I wrote the famous song, “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth”. Just kidding..I just headed for a fence/w tree & made a very quick-stop! LOL
And when you ask, “am I reading this right?” Well to some people it is PEOPLES’ RIGHT to drive a car and not A PRIVILEDGE! Now-a-days RIGHTS or PRIVILEDGE has many different meanings to many people in this country. Not a problem in other countries where TYRANNY THRIVES!