Edit: Thanks everyone. I’ve heard your comments loud and clear. I will not wear headphones while driving.

    • CTDummy@aussie.zone
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      28
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      13 days ago

      Deaf people don’t have a choice not to hear and have heightened visual awareness. They also have accessibility tools to assist and bridge the gap in awareness.

      • pilferjinx@piefed.social
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        13 days ago

        Oh nice? What kind of tools? I’ve always been curious. Although a heightened visual awareness seems dubious. How could you even begin to quantify that?

        • CTDummy@aussie.zone
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          14
          ·
          13 days ago

          Similar for smoke alarms, they have devices that essentially “listen” for specific sounds/frequencies and will then flash (AVC or audio-visual conversion) when triggered. Essentially “if this is flashing, the house is likely burning down”.

          Increased visual awareness is just “they pay more attention to this sense due to lacking another” rather than the stereotypical “Im blind but I can see sounds” like daredevil. It would be interesting to see if it is actually quantified or captured by studies though.

              • lazynooblet@lazysoci.al
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                5
                arrow-down
                4
                ·
                12 days ago

                Lol did you have to Google that. My wife is deaf, half my friends group are deaf. We are laughing at this.

                • CTDummy@aussie.zone
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  3
                  arrow-down
                  3
                  ·
                  12 days ago

                  Im sure they are. All just standing around laughing at my link showing something exist that you claimed didn’t, that’s very funny after all.

                  • lazynooblet@lazysoci.al
                    link
                    fedilink
                    English
                    arrow-up
                    4
                    arrow-down
                    4
                    ·
                    12 days ago

                    Just my wife and I. We are having breakfast and I showed her your comment, nearly spit her food out. Good times all round.

                    Technology can be made to assist every disability just about. Have you seen or heard of anyone using this technology in the wild? What was that? Did you say no? Right, thats the same as us. Because apart from edge cases, pilot schemes or the-guy-on-the-internet-trying-to-win-internet-points, it isn’t being used.

                • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  arrow-down
                  4
                  ·
                  9 days ago

                  Just coming in later, would you please ask your laughing wife how she knows when she’ll need to pull out of the way when an ambulance is approaching, and has she ever had one sneak up on her/catch her off guard?

                  I bet she notices the lights and also other cars moving over, right?

                  Because I’ve seen an ambulance get fucking stuck behind an asshole who was driving with headphones on. Lights and siren, but he was too fucking distracted to even notice. The cars on the other side of the double yellow squeezed over enough for the ambulance to get around, because they were paying attention. Like your wife does, I assume.

                  Because what’s in her ears is quietude, and that’s not as distracting as whatever the headphones are playing.

    • Björn@swg-empire.de
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      11
      ·
      13 days ago

      My driving instructor also taught people with various disabilities. He said with deaf people the examiners pay special attention to how much they look around.

      He also told the story of a guy with only one leg who really really wanted to ride a motorbike. The examiner made him stop at an incline dozens of times to make sure he always managed to fall to the side with his good leg and that the leg was strong enough to always hold the bike.

      • Drusas@fedia.io
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        13 days ago

        That’s really cool. As someone with my own disabilities, it had never occurred to me that I might be able to do things which may seem unrealistic to me now with a little guidance like this.

        • Björn@swg-empire.de
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          12 days ago

          Many had different accessibility gadgets. Someone missing a right arm would have the stick on their left, someone without legs had accelerator and breaks on levers, someone too short to reach them would have leg extensions. Really fascinating stuff.

      • pilferjinx@piefed.social
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        13 days ago

        That’s fair. It sounds like an official should sign off if they fill the necessary requirements to safety operate the vehicle. But the point I was trying to make is that hearing isn’t a requirement to drive safely.

        • Drusas@fedia.io
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          13 days ago

          Your point is technically correct, but the background context matters a lot.

        • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          9 days ago

          Headphones don’t just stop you hearing. They also inject extreme distraction. That makes them wonderful on the subway but terrible behind the wheel. Deaf people aren’t listening to music or podcasts or anything at all except maybe their own thoughts.

    • Swordgeek@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      12 days ago

      Yes they are, and that’s an entirely different situation.

      People who are deaf have learned to work with their disability, and reduce the inherently increased risk of not having auditory cues -screeching tires, honking, emergency sirens, etc. That is a life skill for them.

      OP, on the other hand, was asking about whether it was dangerous to voluntarily block out those cues in a situation which is already moderately risky (driving), and implicitly is someone who hasn’t developed the compensating skills.

      The question was ‘is it dangerous?’ It absolutely is, as well as stupid and in some cases, illegal.

      • pilferjinx@piefed.social
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        12 days ago

        Have you considered people who have limited impaired hearing and not totally deaf? Do they acquire these life skills? Is it something that is taught or self learned. It just seems to me it’s less about hearing and more about mindfulness and the paying the proper attention to your conditions.