A 24-page bill addresses safety, permitting and consumer rights — but fails to mention wheelchairs or accessible vehicles.
A new Washington D.C. bill proposes a vast set of regulations for robotaxis — but accessibility is not a significant part of it, writes Michael Kahn in The Weekly Driver.
According to Kahn, "The Autonomous Vehicle Deployment Authorization Amendment Act of 2026, introduced May 1 by Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen, contains exactly one disability provision, at lines 251 through 253. It requires an app."
As Kahn explains, "A rider in a power wheelchair can use that app. What arrives at the curb will not fit the chair." The bill does not mandate accessible vehicles. "No operator anywhere offers fully driverless wheelchair-accessible service today. Waymo’s accessible vans are driven by humans, a fact Waymo states in its own rider help pages."
For Kahn, "Technology that was supposed to be transformative for disabled people is arriving under laws that guarantee it won’t be."
Read the full story: DC’s Robotaxi Bill Never Says the Word “Wheelchair”
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