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Driving and the Deaf:


Question:
Can Deaf people drive?

Answer: 
Short answer is: Yes.
Longer answer is: Deaf people who have learned to drive can drive in locations where it is legal to do so. Being Deaf doesn't prevent someone from learning how to drive and then driving successfully and with no more risk than people who can hear.


Question:
A new mother of a Deaf child asks: "How do Deaf parents communicate with their children while driving when they need their eyes on the road and their hands on the steering wheel?"

Response:
Deaf people typically communicate through a variety of approaches during while driving:

• Using peripheral vision
• Using quick glances
• Signing during waiting at stoplights
• Abbreviated signing
• Older children can wave or tap the driver's shoulder if they need attention
• Older children sometimes relay information to and from younger children
• Front-seat passengers may move their seat forward and/or lean forward and toward the driver to make their signing more easily visible.
• Back-seat passengers may lean forward and extend a hand into the drivers field of view and fingerspell or sign one-handed. They may stick both arms forward and sign.
• The front seat passenger may relay information between the driver and back seat passengers.

Some Deaf buy extra-wide rear view mirrors that make it much easier to see the signing of people in the back seat. Children of Deaf tend to learn how to read sign language from a variety of angles -- including from the back seat.

It is common for Deaf to sign one-handed with the other hand on the wheel. People unfamiliar with signing might think that it would be hard to understand such signing -- but most fluent signers have little or no problem understanding one-handed signing regarding most topics. If two hands would aid in clarity for certain signs some Deaf might briefly steady the wheel with their knee.

Additionally, many Deaf who spend a lot of time driving together develop a natural and shared rhythm in which the signer watches the road and the viewer watches the signer. If you are driving you watch the road while signing. If you are not the driver you also watch the road while signing and you remain aware of when the driver is looking at you or not. If the driver glances back to the road you pause your signing depending on your awareness of the nature of your signed content and whether or not in your judgment the driver will still be able to understand your message peripherally. If you are the passenger and are watching the road and signing and you happen to notice anything that the driver should be made aware of you immediately drop your hands, look at the driver, and jerk your head in the direction of what needs to be seen as you do a quick eye gaze toward what needs to be seen and then back to the driver. At that point the driver knows they need to stop watching the signer and attend more fully to the road. If all of that sounds complex that's because it is -- but it becomes natural and easy for many Deaf drivers and their frequent passengers over the course of hundreds of hours of real life practice.

Let's not pretend that Hearing drivers have their eyes on the road at all times. If that were the case there would be no such thing as roadside advertising. Nor would there be speedometers or any other type of visual feedback specifically intended to be viewed while driving. It is expected by society that people can drive with reasonable safety despite occasionally looking at things other than the road.

It has been clinically verified that Deaf people exhibit enhanced visual processing and attention in the peripheral visual field.
(Source: Scott GD, Karns CM, Dow MW, Stevens C and Neville HJ (2014) Enhanced peripheral visual processing in congenitally deaf humans is supported by multiple brain regions, including primary auditory cortex. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 8:177. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00177 On the web at: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00177/full )

Other research has shown that Deaf adults have significantly faster reaction times to far peripheral visual stimuli compared to both signing and non-signing Hearing adults. (Source: Codina CJ, Pascalis O, Baseler HA, Levine AT, Buckley D. Peripheral Visual Reaction Time Is Faster in Deaf Adults and British Sign Language Interpreters than in Hearing Adults. Front Psychol. 2017 Feb 6;8:50. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00050. PMID: 28220085; PMCID: PMC5292361. On the web at: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5292361/)

This response is being typed in early 2025. Eventually the topic of Deaf communication while driving will be a non-issue for many people due to self-driving vehicles.

- William G. Vicars, EdD

 



Driving and the Deaf


By Brent Lofy
Saturday, November 22, 2008


"Can the Deaf drive?" It is a question wondered by many people, including myself. I decided to write about driving and the Deaf, because I have always wondered what happens when there are loud sirens from an emergency vehicle and Deaf people are not able to hear it. I remember a time when I was driving and the car in front of me had three people signing to each other. The driver was also signing. I became kind of scared because the driver kept watching the passengers sign. When I was younger, I thought the Deaf community did not drive because I thought that if a person is not able to hear an emergency vehicle, then how are they supposed to move out of its' way. After researching, I thought more about my topic and realized many things.

Hearing people have many concerns with Deaf people driving. Some of the concerns, pointed out by Felicity Bleckly in "Can a Deaf Person Drive" are:

- Talking with their hands, when they should be on the wheel.
- Trying to lip read a passenger while driving.
- Not being able to hear emergency vehicles coming.
- Not being able to call for help if their car breaks down.
- Not being able to talk to an officer if they are pulled over.
- Not being able to hear warnings their car is giving them.

In many places Deaf people are allowed to drive. But for at least 26 countries, Deaf citizens are not allowed to have a license ("Living With Deafness"). Also in many of the states, Deaf drivers are required to have a special license to be able to identify themselves as Deaf. It is ridiculous that people are scared to let the Deaf community drive, because if a person actually thinks about it, Deaf drivers may be the better drivers on the road.

An excellent statement that really got me thinking was said in "Many People Think Deaf People Should Not Drive" by Fookem and Bug. The line stated that "driving is an almost completely visual activity for anyone. How many drivers watch the road with their ears?" The statement is totally true. Many hearing people are not even listening to the surroundings when driving in the first place. Many hearing drivers are talking on the phone, blasting their music, or talking to their passenger/s. If someone doubts Deaf drivers, they need to think about how Deaf people have "excellent use of peripheral vision and lack of reliance on hearing" ("Frequently Asked Questions"). Most Deaf drivers are much more aware of their surroundings than hearing drivers who are distracted by all of the things are around them. That is why I agree that most Deaf drivers are the better drivers on the road.

After researching more about the Deaf and driving, I realize why there are Deaf drivers. I read many blogs of people asking if Deaf people can drive and the Deaf community answering back with great answers. By researching and writing this blog, I have come to realize why Deaf drivers may be the better drivers on the road. Knowing that there are Deaf drivers makes me feel MUCH safer than knowing little old ladies are on the road driving. Haha.

Works Cited

Bleckly, Felicity, ed. "Can A Deaf Person Drive?" Bella Online. 22 Nov. 2008 .

Fookem, and Bug, eds. "Many People Think Deaf People Should Not Drive." Fookem and Bug. 6 May 2007. 22 Nov. 2008 .

"Frequently Asked Questions." WA Deaf Society Inc. 22 Nov. 2008 .

"Living With Deafness." Deaf Culture. PBS. 22 Nov. 2008 .
 


Also see: "Deaf Drivers"

 

 

Notes: 

 

 


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