Waymo, Epilepsy Foundation Partner on Commemorating Epilepsy Awareness Month

Earlier this month, Waymo announced it was working with the Epilepsy Foundation in celebrating Epilepsy Awareness Month. The autonomous vehicle company notes 1 in 26 people cope with the neurological condition and its characteristic recurring seizures.

“Epilepsy Foundation and Waymo have teamed up this November to raise awareness during Epilepsy Awareness Month. The Epilepsy Foundation is a national nonprofit organization that works to improve the lives of those affected by epilepsy, including caregivers,” Waymo wrote in its announcement on November 1. “Throughout November, one in 26 Waymo vehicles in LA, Phoenix and San Francisco will feature an Epilepsy Foundation decal to recognize the one in 26 people who have been or will be diagnosed with epilepsy in their lifetimes.”

Waymo’s blog post features an interview with former NBA player Tristan Thompson, as well as Epilepsy Foundation CEO Bernice “Bee” Martin Lee, who knew of her diagnosis long before she went public with it. She noted Waymo’s mission aligns with the nonprofit’s, saying in part Waymo’s vehicles are “game-changers” for the disability community—especially epileptics who can’t drive. “That lack of access to transportation can feel so burdensome and can lead to that [social] isolation,” Lee said.

My adoration of Waymo is well-documented, but epilepsy is close to my heart as well. My mother, who died of cancer in 1998 when I was only 16, was an epileptic; I spent much of my formative years helping her manage her daily medications. In addition, my partner’s own mom, who died in 2019 after a fall, also had epilepsy. Likewise, I spent a lot of time over the past decade helping her manage her medication as well as escorting her to and fro her neurology appointments—albeit in pre-Waymo times.

The cynical (yet correct) take on posts like this is they’re thin foils for marketing and feel-good messaging—to which I say: Duh. Of course there’s something in these stories for Waymo in terms of self-interest. I’d contend, however, the more salient, more important point is how Waymo is literally driving accessibility forward. The company’s self-driving technology is, while admittedly nascent, already providing disabled people an avenue for accessible transit that they can control with the utmost agency and autonomy. Too many in the anti-robotaxi brigade undervalue these points in the name of safety and, in my view, a view askew of artificial intelligence. Their myopia in this regard precludes them from seeing the genuine good companies like Waymo are providing people for whom mobility is compromised in one way or another. Of course Waymo ought to be safe, but so too should their strengths be recognized accordingly.