Sam Schmidt is no ordinary race car driver after suffering a devastating accident in training that rendered him a quadriplegic back in 2000. Now he's also the first American to have been handed a driving license that permits him to use an autonomous vehicle on public highways. The state of Nevada has announced that Schmidt is able to drive a modified Corvette Stingray Z06 that is controlled just with the motion of his head, breath and voice commands.
There's a little stretching of the definition of autonomous, here, since Schmidt is directly in control of the car himself. The vehicle, however, does much of the heavy lifting for him, and so qualifies under Nevada state law as self-driving. For instance, Schmidt controls the gear shift through voice commands, that the car then handles automatically, while a sip-and-puff device enables him to control acceleration and braking. The vehicle's customization was handled by Arrow Electronics as part of its semi-autonomous motorcar project.
The granting of the license is a huge step forward in enabling disabled people to regain their independence, since Schmidt can now travel ostensibly where he wants. Nevada will also use it to burnish its credentials as a tech-friendly city, since it now houses plenty of bleeding-edge tech startups including Hyperloop One and Faraday Future -- not to mention that it's also the home of Tesla's Gigafactory. It's also a big deal for the world of semi-autonomous vehicles, since legislators may look more favorably upon cars with humans behind the wheel. After all, most of the alarmism that currently surrounds autopilot systems is that a computer can't make the sort of snap judgments a person can.
Latest Stories
-
World Bank’s food price index eases; maize, wheat prices hit 3-year low
22 mins -
2020 polls all about pulling Ghana back from precipice of destruction, corruption – Naana Jane
26 mins -
Guru expresses interest in contesting SRC election at UG
33 mins -
Oil prices projected to average $84 in 2024 – World Bank
43 mins -
Meet 2 Ghanaian entrepreneurs on a mission to connect 1m African professionals to global companies by 2034
1 hour -
NCA approves Starlink’s satellite broadband application
1 hour -
Government orders FGR to revamp mining operations; assures workers of commitment to their welfare
1 hour -
Arne Slot philosophy could suit Liverpool – Van Dijk
2 hours -
EC replies Mahama: You also appointed someone who was tagged NDC
2 hours -
See colourful outdoor of Prof Naana Opoku-Agyemang as NDC’s running mate
2 hours -
Akufo-Addo commissions 15MWP Kaleo Solar Power Plant
2 hours -
GCB Bank PLC leads African financial integration, hosts ZICB delegation
2 hours -
Empowering Girls in ICT: FAWE Ghana advocates for gender equality in the Tech sector
4 hours -
Rangnick ‘contacted by Bayern Munich’ about manager job
4 hours -
Winneba Youth Choir celebrates 35th Anniversary with Aseda Concert sponsored by Fidelity Bank
4 hours