Paralyzed driver awaits modified car
DETROIT — Former Indy Racing League driver Sam Schmidt has done a lot in the 16 years since an accident left him paralyzed from the neck down. He runs a racing team and a foundation. He’s raced a sailboat using his chin. But the man who raced in the Indianapolis 500 hasn’t been able to drive around his neighborhood — until now.
Today, Schmidt is set to receive the first license restricted to an autonomous vehicle in the U.S. The license allows him to drive on Nevada roads in his specially modified Corvette, which requires no hands on its steering wheel or feet on its pedals. Schmidt uses head motions to control the car’s direction.
Fully driverless cars — several steps beyond the car that Schmitt is driving — are expected to reach U.S. roads in the next five to 10 years, and the disabled community is eager for their arrival. More than 4 million people in the U.S. need assistance with daily tasks like eating or leaving home, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Others have less severe disabilities but are still unable to drive.
Disabled people are less likely than the nondisabled to be employed and are more likely to experience poverty, the bureau says. But that could change with the arrival of self-driving cars.
“It’s coming. We’re looking for something to help us get that level of independence,” Schmidt told The Associated Press.
Schmidt is the bridge to that future. His car isn’t fully autonomous; it uses four cameras to monitor his head and transmit his movements to the tires. He breathes into a tube to accelerate and sucks the air out when he wants to brake.
The car isn’t practical for most people. Centennial, Colo.-based Arrow Electronics bought and modified Schmidt’s $80,000 2016 Corvette Z06. It spent an additional six figures on cameras, sensors and computers and even more to add a steering wheel and brake pedals on the passenger side.
Schmidt’s license requires that a licensed driver accompany him in the passenger seat to take over in case of emergency. When he drives, Schmidt must follow a pilot car. He can’t drive in ice or snow. Those restrictions could eventually be eased, Nevada officials say.
