Whoa, Wait a Minute... Deaf Drivers?

The deaf folks are legally entitled to obtain a driver’s license. Did you know that? I did, but that’s only because I am deaf and I have a license to drive. Before you say something, I’ll bet most people haven’t even noticed a deaf driver on the road. How would they know if they see one to begin with? Deafness is invisible; we look like everybody else out there. Only we just can’t hear. Drivers don’t talk to each other on the road; they use gestures and signals instead. So there’s no way of identifying a deaf driver, not even if they’re signing because the passenger may be deaf, not the driver. There are a lot of deaf drivers on the road, believe it or not.

In today’s world, with all the progress we’ve made with making people awake of deafness and trying to break down the barriers, I think we’ve made great progress in some places. However, there’s also some that we haven’t succeed at yet. For instance, the government of Japan to this day has a law barring the deaf from obtaining a driver’s license. There are still a lot of countries that bar the deaf from doing so, but the reason why I mentioned Japan out of all the countries was because of how civilized it is. I would have thought they’d allowed it starting a long time ago, but I guess they never did.

Contrary to popular belief that the deaf are inherently unsafe drivers, this is not true. Have you ever recalled a headline in the local newspaper about a deaf driver causing a collision? I doubt most would be able to recall such a story. Of course, there have been accidents where the deaf were involved, but they are much smaller in population than the hearing and the represent a small percentage of the entire population of drivers. There have been several studies and all of them seem to contradict each other. Some say are significantly unsafe than the average while one would say the opposite, and the others has said that deaf drivers has been found to be just as safe as everybody else.

Personally, I don’t believe we are more dangerous, or are we any better. All of us have a responsibility to ensure everybody’s safety on the road, not just ours. Basically, it’s a task that requires teamwork. You don’t drive alone; you drive with everybody on the road. You communicate with everybody by signals, driving patterns, speed, facial expressions, gestures, though it’s true that many deaf drivers aren’t able to hear the horn. On second thought, there are a lot of people who enable in road rage these days and many will take the honking sound the wrong way. The deaf drivers rely on their vision to see everything around.

I’ve been driving since I was sixteen. In the province I live in, teenagers can obtain their learner’s permit starting at the age of sixteen. I’m twenty-two now, and I have my own car. I’ve been driving for six years. I have learned a lot from the road over the years, and I never engage in road rage. Well, I do have an occasional thought of scolding an irresponsible driver but who hasn’t done that? I don’t feel that I am a danger to anybody on the road; I feel that driving safely is a responsibility that never should be neglected.

Unfortunately, I’ve witnessed a large number of irresponsible drivers. When people are driving, they shouldn’t be talking on the cell phone, eating, reading, nodding off or even shaving. Yes, I’ve seen people shaving on the road. Though I would say that either reading or nodding off while driving is pretty much the scariest encounter you could come across.

I know quite a lot of deaf people who drives, and there are quite a few who does use text messaging on their mobile phone while driving which is recklessly dangerous. Using a mobile phone isn’t quite safe for anybody, and let alone the idea of text messaging. I don’t even look at mine while I’m driving. Like I said, I’m a responsible driver and I don’t want to put anybody’s lives in jeopardy just to send a text message. I don’t believe that would justify the reason why to bar the deaf from driving, as there are a lot of responsible drivers out there who have careers. By taking that away from us, they are taking independence along with it. In every apple basket, there are always a few bad apples but it doesn’t ruin the whole basket.

Now, I’m sure some of you have questions. Feel free to ask questions if you want to. First, I’ll answer a few popular questions before they’re even asked.

The most common question is how do the deaf drivers become awake of the emergency vehicles? I am aware that emergency vehicles produce loud sounds to alert the drivers. Many people often forget that they also carry sirens. In fact, in most cases, you will see the sirens flashing before you hear them. I recall a simple science lesson from elementary school on the speed of light and sound. The speed of light travels at a higher speed than the sound. Which is why it’s important that we become more observant while we’re on the road. It gives you more time to get out of their way, and it also can help you avoid collisions if possible. Everybody has to check their rear mirrors frequently because that mirror was designed to help people ensure their safety.

Another question people often ask is this one, how do the deaf hear warnings from other motorists? It’s rather simple if you think about it. Use hand signals or flash your headlights, even if it’s illegal in some places but it’s absolutely necessary if they don’t respond to the sounds made with a horn. They’ll take it as a visual cue. It’s everybody’s job to be observant, audio cannot be just relied on. Especially when drivers are driving by with their stereos blasting and shattering windows. Yeah, even the deaf drivers can hear them.

There are also some people that have asked about what type of vehicle the deaf can drive. They can drive any type of vehicle they wish to like everybody with the general driver license they obtain. There are a few different licenses for different drivers. From what I know, in many places, the deaf cannot obtain a license to drive a truck that is heavier than 10,000 pounds due to various safety concerns about the blind spots. I don’t know too much about that subject since I don’t desire driving an 18-wheeler rig big. I also came across some information that quite a lot of truck drivers use earplugs due to the noise pollution the vehicles produce, but some claim that it tune out the loud noises while the sounds they need to hear comes in. I’m not sure if I should buy that argument, quite unrealistic if you ask me. I don’t believe that wearing earplugs to tune out the noises will help you hear the sounds they should be hearing. Well, it’s a whole different subject, and I don’t have any plans to continue that subject soon. We’re talking about the general drivers.

The deaf are perfectly capable of driving and they aren’t more of a threat than the average driver is on the road. Driving is dangerous; people die from it every day, mostly due to bad judgment. We are required to take responsibility, and use our eyes to stay aware and alert. The deaf drivers are not inherently unsafe; they are just as safe as every responsible driver out there.