Can a deaf person legally drive?

Question

A person doesn’t have to take a hearing test when they apply for a driver’s license.

But they wouldn’t be able to hear police, fire truck, or ambulance sirens.

Answer 1

I belive they can drive they can see the cops sirens.

Answer 2

Absolutely.

In fact, it has been proven that deaf or hearing impaired people are better drivers, with fewer accidents or mishaps.

I am deaf myself (I have about 20% of "normal" hearing and I have been that way since I was born). Yes, I can hear sirens. They are very loud and high pitched. I can't hear them as loudly as a normal person can but I can hear them. As for the flashing lights, those are easily seen.

I use my other senses when I drive. I'm much more visibly aware of what is going on around me. In fact, how can all those idiots with blasting stereos hear a siren or horn? I can probably hear it before they do. Also, the sense of touch is very helpful...I can feel vibrations that people with normal hearing can't.

No, a hearing test is not required. The only restriction on my license is that the vehicle I drive must have right and left side mirrors. Since all cars have those anyway, that is not a problem.

EMT

I also drive an ambulance. I don't have any problem.

Answer 3

My neighbor is completely and legally deaf.

He still drives legally. In fact I know a lot of deaf drivers.

I understand your complaint, I guess they have to be pretty aware of who is in their rear view.

He almost backed into us once and I told my dad to honk the horn, but then I realized it would do no good lol

Answer 4

.

Yes.

I used to teach the deaf.They tend to make up for their lack of hearing by extra observation and also have better vibration recognition for when to change gear etc.

Instructing them on how to drive was very interesting. I had to develop a number of new techniques for instructional purposes and also learnt sign language.

On one occasion I saw an ex-student and waved...that caused pandemonium, as my deaf student was only on her second lesson and thought it was an instruction - I never made the same mistake again!

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Answer 5

Deaf drivers are better than hearing drivers. As for police, fire trucks and ambulances, those things all have lights to go with them that are impossible to ignore.

Deaf are more attuned with their vision than most hearing people. They depend more on their vision, so they pick up on a lot of things that you would miss.

Answer 6

Funny, in 43 years as a licenced driver, I have never had a problem with a deaf driver.  They are actually, for the most part, more aware of what is going on, and are never distracted by cell phones like so many yahoos on the road now.

Answer 7

yes thats why police, fire truck, or ambulance have flasing light

Answer 8

Yes. I work with at least 15 totally deaf people in the Postal Service. All of them have legal drivers licenses. Some even have pretty loud stereos in their cars because they can feel the bass!

Answer 9

Yes. Deaf people in the U.S. are statistically safer drivers than the hearing.

Many deaf drivers use special devices that let them know when fire or ambulance sirens are wailing or car horns are blaring.

To enable drivers to distinguish between sounds, many of these devices can rate the type of sound and alert users on a multi-light panel.

Some deaf drivers also use special panoramic mirrors so they can see more of what is around and behind their car.