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Waymo Partners with the Epilepsy Foundation Arizona for its 2020 AZ walk to End Epilepsy

March 12, 2020

Partnered with The Epilepsy Foundation

Group of people in front of a backdrop for the Epilepsy Foundation

On Sunday March 8 at Rio Vista Park in Peoria, AZ, over 1,000 Arizonans came together, from across the state, to raise funds and awareness for epilepsy care, support, and research. The Epilepsy Foundation Arizona’s  AZ Walk to End Epilepsy is Arizona’s only Walk to End Epilepsy and part of a nationwide effort to spread epilepsy awareness, end stigma, and provide vital support for 77,000 Arizonans living with epilepsy and 3.4 million Americans, nationwide.

At Waymo, we know that fully autonomous vehicles have the potential to reshape the transportation landscape for people living with epilepsy. Our vision is to create safer, better future and we believe self-driving cars will save lives, improve independence, and create new mobility options for everyone. That’s why we were proud to sponsor the AZ Walk to End Epilepsy and continue to support the Epilepsy Foundation and their work to spread awareness and raise money for research.

It’s more than a walk

Over 77,000 Arizonans live with active epilepsy, which includes 11,200 children in Arizona, alone. Nationwide, 1 in 10 people will have a seizure in their lifetime and about 1 in 26 will be diagnosed with epilepsy at some point in their lifetimes, yet funding for epilepsy research is about ten times less than the funding received for other brain disorders and is more common than multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, and Parkinson's COMBINED. 

With more than 119,000 advocates from all 50 states, the Epilepsy Foundation has a wide range of impact, advocating for policies and sharing stories in order to to overcome the challenges facing those living with epilepsy and accelerate therapies to stop seizures, find cures, and save lives.

A shared mission

Built on our mission to make it safe and easy for people to get around and a desire to improve access to mobility while saving lives, Waymo and the Epilepsy Foundation are aligned in their desire for a safer and better future. 

Driving laws vary by state, although many people who suffer from epilepsy are advised not to drive it is sometimes up to an individual to report their epilepsy. For instance, in states like Arizona, your license is revoked for a period of 3 months, if you choose to disclose that information, while in other states you must be seizure-free for anywhere from six months to a year before you can legally drive again. 

We know that fully self-driving cars can change the way people with epilepsy live. By building a safer driver for everyone, we provide new mobility options so that people living with epilepsy can run errands, commute to work, or drop their kids off at school without having to rely on others to help them get around.

To learn more about the Epilepsy Foundation Arizona and their Walk to End Epilepsy please visit epilepsyaz.org and/or walktoendepilepsy.org/arizona.