Self-Driving Cars Could Put 2 Million People with Disabilities to Work

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January 18th, 2017

Motorists of all ages are concerned about self-driving cars. Uber and Lyft drivers are worried about losing their jobs, while others simply doubt that computers can drive as well as humans. (Fun fact: They can. And how.)

But what’s often left out of discussions around autonomous vehicles are the benefits they’ll offer to people with disabilities. That’s a major consideration, given that 57 million Americans are classified as disabled, including 3.8 million veterans.

While self-driving cars won’t allow all of those folks to purse employment, they’ll be a boon to some. A new whitepaper from Securing America’s Future Energy (a think tank devoted to weaning the U.S. off of oil) and the Ruderman Family Foundation shows that autonomous vehicles will allow 2,000,000 people with disabilities to enter the workforce.