On Wednesday, Sam Schmidt will become the first person in the United States to receive an autonomous vehicle restricted driver’s license.

The license will allow the former racecar driver, who has been paralyzed from the neck down after severely injuring his spinal cord during a testing accident at the Walt Disney World Speedway in 2000, to drive a semi-autonomous vehicle. Schmidt will drive a modified Chevrolet Corvette Z06 at a Las Vegas event on Wednesday.

Arrow Electronics, which has been developing the technology for the car since 2014, has created a system that will allow Schmidt to control and operate the car using a headset, his head, breath and voice commands. To accelerate, Schmidt will blow into a tube attached to the headset, and he will inhale to brake. The car will also come equipped with four infrared cameras mounted on the dashboard of the car, that allows him to steer by simply moving his head in different directions.

Schmidt, 52, has driven this car on several occasions before. Just a few months ago, he reached a personal best of 152 MPH at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway while driving the car.

From an article with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the Nevada DMV, which is issuing Schmidt his license, released this statement:

“Nevada is leading the nation in promoting autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicle technologies that can bring mobility and independence to people with physical disabilities, including our wounded warriors.”

Via an article from Racer.com, Joe Verrengia, Arrow's global director of corporate social responsibility, added, “We hope the SAM [semi-autonomous motorcar] car continues to inspire and drive technology innovation forward.”

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