A student team in the Virginia Tech College of Engineering is providing the blind with an opportunity many never thought possible: The opportunity to drive. A retrofitted four-wheel dirt buggy developed by the Blind Driver Challenge team from Virginia Tech's Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory uses laser range finders, an instant voice command...

A comprehensive review of the scientific literature was unable to find evidence that vision testing of older drivers leads to fewer fatal automobile accidents. "We have this hypothesis that [as years pass] you have more age-related eye conditions," said researcher Sayed Subzwari. By this line of reasoning, elderly drivers are theoretically...

A Florida vision screening law targeting older drivers appears to be associated with a decrease in death rates despite little existing evidence linking vision and car crashes. A report in this month's issue of Archives of Ophthalmology highlights the January 2004 law requiring all drivers 80 years and older to pass a vision test before...

Because they can be nearly silent, hybrid cars pose a serious threat of injury and death to blind and visually impaired people, says the American Council of the Blind, which is pushing the auto industry and government officials to develop ways to reduce this danger. "Traditionally, people who are blind or visually impaired learn to rely on...

July 18th marked twenty five years since tactile paving was introduced for all pedestrian crossings in the United Kingdom. This red textured surface was suggested by the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), to let blind people know when they were up to a safe place to cross. It was developed after cerbs had been removed for wheelchair...

Keasha Orban did something on Friday that is routine for most people, but for her, was something special. She safely crossed Howdershell Road first time. Orban, who is legally blind, crossed the road with the aid of a special signal on the traffic light at Wildcat Lane. A buzzing noise lets her know the light has changed and she can safely...

Hybrid cars are so quiet when operating only with their electric motors that they may pose a risk to the blind and some other pedestrians, research by a University of California, Riverside psychologist suggests. "There is a real difference between the audibility of hybrid vehicles and those with traditional internal combustion engines that...

Vermont State officials from the Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired held a public forum in Brattleboro Tuesday evening in an effort to better understand the concerns of residents from around the region dealing with the loss of vision. One of the major themes brought up during the discussion was that motorists were not yielding to...

A bill intended to protect blind people and other pedestrians from the dangers posed by quiet cars will be introduced Wednesday in Congress. The measure would require the Transportation Department to establish safety standards for hybrids and other vehicles that make little discernible noise, including an audible means for alerting people that...