Catherine Kleiber at electricalpollution.com has shared how you can Sign Up To Comment to the U.S. Access Board Re Wireless Autonomous Vehicles

Dear All,

It is extremely important that you comment to the U.S. Access Board at their hearings touting Autonomous Vehicles.

Autonomous vehicles are a health hazard for disabled individuals and individuals in the vehicle’s vicinity and the vicinity of wireless infrastructure supporting autonomous vehicles due to the biologically-hazardous levels of radiofrequency/microwave (RF/MW) radiation emitted.

Autonomous Vehicles and vehicles with RF-based assistive driving features are also access-blocking for the significant percentage of the population that has RF/MW Sickness a.k.a. electrical sensitivity.

The Access Board needs to be educated by as many people as possible about both the health hazard posed to people with mobility, sensory, or cognitive disabilities and the public at large and the ADA violating access barrier autonomous vehicles pose. They cannot make wise decisions without good information about harms they will cause by supporting autonomous vehicles to counter the rosy sales pitch the industry has no doubt given them. Please help provide that education by briefly outlining your personal experience and how proliferation of autonomous and “smart” vehicles is/will effect you and connecting it to the science.

Each person will have no more than 5 minutes for their oral comment. Please plan ahead so you can best utilize that time. Please also submit a written comment to events@access-board.gov. Your oral and written comments do not need to be identical. Your written comment can be more comprehensive.

None of the public hearing topics address either health and safety or accessibility issues that autonomous vehicles will cause, so just pick a hearing that works for you.

To register via Zoom use the link underneath the conference day that works for you either by visiting https://www.access-board.gov/av/ or in the written material below.

If you are unable to utilize the zoom internet platform, please email Rosemary Bunales at bunales@access-board.gov with your name (first and last), your email address, and your phone number and whether you want to make a comment or just listen. They require your phone number in order to be able to find you in the list to un-mute you.

Below are some points that you might want to consider making:

1. Autonomous vehicles are a health hazard for passengers and the public at large. Both the vehicles themselves and local wireless infrastructure installed to support them are sources of biologically-hazardous RF/MW radiation.

2. Autonomous vehicles and external wireless infrastructure increase ambient RF/MW radiation levels creating a serious community-wide access barrier for individuals with RF/MW sickness which means that the Federal government and Access Board would be violating the ADA and particularly the 2008 ADA Amendments by supporting the use of autonomous vehicles. There are alternative transportation methods that individuals with physical, sensory, and cognitive disabilities can use that do not block access for a growing percentage of the population and endanger their health and the health of others around them.

3. The decision by the Federal government to support the use of autonomous vehicles and infrastructure requires an EIS due to the disparate health, accessibility, and environmental impacts (increased energy consumption by vehicles and support infrastructure to power the wireless transmitters, probable increased vehicle fuel consumption from “circling”, and direct human and environmental damage from RF/MW radiation emissions) of autonomous vehicle use vs. regular vehicle use improvements to support networks.

Please request that an EIS be done prior to ANY Federal agency supporting the use of autonomous vehicles and that you be notified when one is undertaken so you can provide input.

4. Request that the Access Board work with the Environmental Health Trust and individuals with Radiofrequency/Microwave Sickness to develop basic best practices for accommodation so that hospitals, clinics, and places of public accommodation are once again accessible. Ask that they notify you when they undertake this.

Protecting our health and the environment by using a hardwired computer in a low RF environment. For more information, see www.electricalpollution.com

https://www.access-board.gov/av/

Autonomous Vehicles

Inclusive Design of Autonomous Vehicles: A Public Dialogue

Self-driving or “autonomous” vehicles stand to revolutionize road transportation in the U.S. and around the world. Their cutting-edge technologies and engineering innovations have the potential to significantly expand transit options for many people, including those with disabilities. It is important that autonomous vehicles (AVs) are designed to be inclusive of everyone.

This spring, the U.S. Access Board will host a four-part series of virtual meetings on making AVs accessible to passengers with disabilities. The Board will provide an open forum where members of the public and stakeholders can discuss considerations, challenges, and solutions in designing accessible AVs. The sessions will cover accessibility for passengers with mobility, sensory, or cognitive disabilities. The sessions are free and open to the public. Attendees will be able to pose questions and share comments, suggestions, and information.

The Board is undertaking this initiative jointly with other agencies, including the Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) and the Department of Health and Human Service’s Administration for Community Living.

Series Platform and Format

The forum will be conducted through the Zoom webinar. The forum’s four sessions will be in intervals of two weeks. Each 90-minute webinar discussion will be recorded and supplemented by an online crowdsourcing dialogue platform that will be active for two weeks after each session. The sessions will begin with presentations by agency representatives and invited speakers who will review relevant sources and research and outline issues and questions for discussion. These presentations will be followed by an open dialogue with attendees through the webinar platform.

Webinar Schedule and Registration

Accessibility for Passengers with Mobility Disabilities: Part 1
This session will cover methods and technologies for entering and exiting autonomous vehicles.
March 10, 2021, 2:00 – 3:30 (ET)
Register for the March 10 session

Session I Presenters

Gregory S. Fehribach, Chair of the U.S. Access Board
Randall Duchesneau, U.S. Access Board
Victor Paquet, Ph.D., University at Buffalo
Amy Schoppman, National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association
Kevin Frayne, BraunAbility

Accessibility for Passengers with Mobility Disabilities: Part 2
This session will address maneuvering and securement in vehicles and continued discussion of entering and exiting autonomous vehicles.
March 24, 2021, 2:00 – 3:30 (ET)
Register for the March 24 session

Session II Presenters

Jennifer Sheehy, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Office of Disability Employment Policy
Scott Windley, U.S. Access Board
Bryan Brillhart, Robotics Research
Dr. Kathleen D. Klinich, University of Michigan
Dr. Jordana Maisal, University at Buffalo

Accessibility for Passengers with Sensory and Cognitive Disabilities: Part 1
This session will address ride hailing and on-board communication for passengers with hearing, visual, or cognitive disabilities.
April 7, 2021, 2:00 – 3:30 (ET)
Register for the April 7 session

Accessibility for Passengers with Sensory and Cognitive Disabilities: Part 2
This session will continue discussion of communication accessibility in hailing and interacting with autonomous vehicles for passengers with hearing, visual, or cognitive disabilities.
April 21, 2021, 2:00 – 3:30 (ET)
Register for the April 21 session

Online Dialogue Platform

Members of the public are also welcome to share their ideas, comments, and information on AV accessibility through an online crowdsourcing dialogue platform that will offer another opportunity for input throughout the webinar series. Discussion of accessibility for passengers with mobility disabilities is active now. Dialogues on accessibility for passengers with sensory or cognitive disabilities and next steps will open March 25.