I know this is terribly politically incorrect of me, but I just saw this story on the newsfeeds, and the one question that keeps dancing in front of me is: WHY?
A special off-road driving day was set up to allow “young drivers with sight problems” to have a go at driving a car. The story makes it clear that those involved are unable to apply for licences – or have had licences revoked when they started to experience issues with their sight. One driver is quoted:
I am on cloud nine.
It is now my dream to be a driver one day.
How? It can’t possibly ever be possible in a manually operated vehicle (and by “manual” I mean one that is actually controlled by the driver). If you can’t see, then there’s no way to circumvent that problem in any vehicle which depends on the driver being able to observe what is around them. Fair enough, if you put on your H G Wells hat and start imagining what might be possible then there is some hope. But realistically the best that can be expected is that self-driving cars become common – but that would be no different to riding in a taxi or bus, and would not constitute real “driving”.
There’s nothing wrong with running these sessions, of course. But someone somewhere needs to be a little more honest and realistic about the expectations they are creating in the minds of young people with eyesight problems. Being young and visually-impaired doesn’t mean you are any less susceptible to the issues that afflict other young people. In that case, let’s hope that these falsely-inspired youngsters don’t get it into their heads that they can joyride like some of their peers are wont to do.