New Vehicle Unveiled At White Cane Day Event

Friday is national White Cane Day, which recognizes the accomplishments and challenges of the visually-impaired.In Louisville, various organizations and Metro Government distributed information on services available to blind and disabled Louisvillians. Metro Government Disabilities Coordinator Tommy Clark says the city has taken several steps to serve the more than 130 thousand visually impaired area residents. He says he plans to meet with the next mayor to discuss how the city can expand its services."Whoever becomes the mayor, I want them informed that this is something that really establishes our city on the national front as an accommodating city, as an accessible city for everybody and every traveler and every visitor," he says.Clark has particular praise for the talking crosswalk signs that have been installed in many area intersections. He says there are still stimulus dollars available for new crosswalks and other accessibility improvements.The White Cane Day celebration also marked the debut of the MV-1, which is a wheelchair-accessible sedan that will soon be manufactured in Indiana. Clark says while the city has no plans to purchase MV-1s for public use,  he hopes to see them on the street soon."The New York mayor has agreed to purchase several of the cabs. In Louisville we have high hopes that the cab companies would look into it," he says. "It's really neat and it's an affordable vehicle."The makers of the MV-1 also make wheelchair-accessible vehicles for the Transit Authority of River city.