Yes, Deaf People Can Drive!
Posted on September 13, 2009
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When I was in college I took American Sign Language in place of a speech class. Our teacher was deaf and had to use sign language to communicate with us, which made it all the more necessary for us to learn to communicate with our hands — and read her hands.
Around the same time, my boyfriend at the time (now an ex, thank heavens) and I were at Denny’s, and saw a group of deaf people come in. I of course was tempted to try out my sign language skills, but was too shy to actually do so. My boyfriend, on the other hand, was much less open-minded — in fact, he actually made a comment about how they shouldn’t have been driving!
“Deaf people can drive,” I responded.
“Would you let a blind person drive?” he said.
I tried to explain that deaf people can still see and therefore can drive just fine — the only issue is that they can’t hear sirens, so they have to be a little bit more vigilant about looking for flashing lights in their mirrors and out their windows. But my ex just didn’t get it. He seriously couldn’t understand why hearing loss wouldn’t prohibit you from driving.
Of course, some deaf people are lucky enough to be able to hear with the help of an audiologist, which is someone who diagnoses and treats hearing problems. But regardless, there is no reason why a deaf person can’t drive. Of course, since they talk with their hands — and therefore listen with their eyes — they may not be able to function exactly as a hearing person behind the wheel, but they can be just as safe drivers as the next person!
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