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