On 7th October 2024, Frankie Picron and Alexandre Bloxs, respectively EUD Executive Director and Policy Manager, attended the workshop on the future of automated vehicles organized by the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC).
As automated vehicles are becoming a trend in China and in the USA, the European Union is working on a legal framework to enable these technological innovations to take place in the European Union. Within the next decades, automated vehicles will spread within the EU to alleviate the shortage of truck, bus, and taxi drivers.
However, as these means of transportation will navigate without a human driver, this will present specific challenges for persons with disabilities, including deaf people. The JRC organized a workshop with representative organisations of persons with disabilities to collect our perspectives and challenges we might encounter on our journey with an automated vehicle.
EUD highlighted that the interface of communication to order an automated vehicle service such as a taxi should not be dependent on audio calls. Furthermore, any emergencies happening in the course of using the automated vehicle service should be solved in the national sign language.
EUD is thankful to the JRC for the invitation and the meaningful implications of organisations of persons with disabilities in designing automated vehicles that are inclusive of all.
