ACM Trans. Access. Comput., Vol. 14, No. 3, Article 15, Publication date: August 2021.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3471934
A significant number of individuals in the United States report a disability that limits their ability to travel, including many people who are blind or visually impaired (BVI). The implications of restricted transportation result in negative impacts related to economic security, physical and mental health, and overall quality of life. Fully autonomous vehicles (FAVs) present a means to mitigate travel barriers for this population by providing new, safe, and independent travel opportunities. However, current policies governing interactions with the artificial intelligence (AI) ‘at the wheel’ of FAVs do not reflect the accessibility needs articulated by BVI people in the extant literature, failing to encourage use cases that would result in life changing mobility. By reviewing the legislative and policy efforts surrounding FAVs, we argue that the heart of this problem is due to a disjointed, laissez-faire approach to FAV accessibility that has yet to actualize the full benefits of this new transportation mode, not only for BVI people, but also for all users. We outline the necessity for a policy framework that guides the design of FAVs to include the concerns of BVI people and then propose legislative and design recommendations aimed to promote enhanced accessibility, transparency, and fairness during FAV travel.
ACM Reference format:
Paul D. S. Fink, Jessica A. Holz, and Nicholas A. Giudice. 2021. Fully Autonomous Vehicles for People with Visual Impairment: Policy, Accessibility, and Future Directions. ACM Trans. Access. Comput. 14, 3, Article 15 (August 2021), 17 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3471934
INTRODUCTION
Fully autonomous vehicles (FAVs) represent the future of accessible transportation by affording safe and flexible mobility for individuals who are limited by current transportation modes due to disability. Unfortunately, the policy landscape guiding the development of FAVs does not adequately consider the needs of transportation-limited populations, particularly those of people who are blind and visually impaired (BVI) and many older adults experiencing age-related visual impairments. While the predicted benefits of autonomous transportation have resulted in extensive media fanfare and advocacy by BVI stakeholders, the extant literature offers little clarification for designers and researchers to conceptualize the ever-evolving FAV legal ecosystem and its implications for accessibility. To succeed, we argue that the road ahead for accessible design must include policy promoting the small but growing body of work examining BVI perceptions, needs, and concerns with respect to FAV technology. This article starts by reviewing the current state of FAV policy as it relates to BVI accessibility. Based on these data, we then present recommendations to: (1) eliminate state level laws that discriminate on the basis of disability; (2) extend relevant sections of Part 37 of the Americans with Disabilities Act to FAV related technology; and (3) revise and reinstate the Vehicle Performance Guidance for Automated Vehicles. By discussing our recommendations in concert with existing policy recommendations and current work regarding the expectations and concerns of BVI people, the paper offers a pragmatic and user-driven approach for promoting accessible FAV technology and related policy development. Ultimately, we argue that should technology be reimagined to include the considerations presented here, the future will be bright for current transportation-limited populations who stand to benefit so greatly from autonomous vehicles using FAVs as their core transportation platform.
In the United States alone, there are over 25 million people who report experiencing travel limitations due to a disability, one third of whom assert that they do not leave their homes as a result of these limitations [United States Bureau of Transportation Statistics 2018]. Additionally, there are 26.9 million adults—roughly one tenth of the country's population over the age of 18-reporting some degree of visual impairment [American Foundation for the Blind 2019]. Recent statistics from the World Health Organization detail that there are 2.2 billion people who experience some form of visual impairment worldwide [World Health Organization 2019]. Of these, approximately 36 million experience blindness and 216 million have some form of moderate to severe visual impairment [Bourne et al. 2017]. The foregoing demographic measures can be expected to dramatically increase as populations age rapidly both worldwide and in the U.S., where 10,000 people turn 65 each day [United States Census Bureau 2019] and age continues to be a significant risk factor for experiencing visual impairment [World Health Organization 2019]. As visual impairment often restricts an individual's ability to drive, these figures suggest that there are at least 25 million people within the U.S., and approximately 253 million individuals worldwide, who stand to benefit greatly from the new, safer mobility options yielded by the implementation of FAVs. These benefits can be expected to have broad impacts in terms of supporting increased independence, employment, economic stability, physical and mental health, recreation, and overall enjoyment and quality of life.
The remainder of this article is organized as follows: In Section 2 we briefly review the current state of FAV technology. Section 3 reviews related work concerning BVI perceptions of FAVs and existing policy recommendations. Section 4 outlines the current state and trajectory of FAV policy. In Section 5 we propose future directions with policy recommendations, and in Section 6 we ground our discussion in the context of current problems with FAV consumer acceptance and user trust at large. Finally, in Section 7, we conclude by describing limitations and recommending future work.
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