I have been driving a car since when I was 18 years of age.
No big deal, right? Some of you may say I can’t hear behind myself, and yet I continue to drive. So what?
Even my wife and adult daughters think it is a big deal. They love to criticize my driving, especially because they claim I don’t drive between lanes or I drive too fast or whatever. During my daughters’ lifetimes, the police have given me two speeding tickets – that’s one ticket every ten years of their lifetimes. Big friggin’ deal. Whatever happened before the birth of my daughters doesn’t count. Hidden cameras don’t count (there were quite a few in both Rockville/Bethesda, MD and Washington, DC) – they cheat on unsuspecting drivers by taking pictures of their license plates and mailing tickets within a few weeks later. The police would argue that a sign was there, warning drivers about the presence of hidden cameras, but that’s rather cheating, because we drivers tend to focus on the streets, nothing else. Both my wife and I were victims there, not once but a few times.
Yes, I’ve written one blog that mentioned a car accident I had about 34 years ago, but that was not really my fault.1 The accident occurred because the car did not stop on time before hitting the rear end of my car.
In any event, it has not always been an easy process for any person with hearing loss, especially those who were born deaf or hard of hearing.
There are numerous countries (fortunately, the USA is not one of them) that forbid deaf people from driving a car. As of now, 26 nations don’t allow them to drive.2 Why, I don’t know, but I can guess that they believe the deaf can’t hear behind themselves and therefore can’t know when someone is honking his or her horn or when there’s an emergency vehicle coming behind. Those nations are too afraid (or, I think, too condescending) to let their deaf or hard of hearing citizens drive.
Even at least some states here have set up some rules for those with hearing loss who drive. I don’t know about your home state, but I do know that anywhere in New York State, you have to have your hearing aids on or you have to have a special wide-angle rear window that can allow you to see more behind yourself (e.g., miss fewer blind spots behind you that you can’t see or hear).
I gained two interesting perspectives when it comes to the deaf driving any vehicle. One of them took place when as a junior, I gave my younger brother Andrew a tour around Harvard College. At that time, he was applying to colleges, and he was a ranked tennis player for his age across the nation. At one point, I introduced Andrew to Tom, the guy who had taken care of my accommodations (e.g., hiring student notetakers) at Harvard.
Somehow, Tom and Andrew got to talking about my driving. When Andrew mentioned that I drive a car, Tom was surprised and indicated that he didn’t know that anyone who was deaf could drive a car. I had liked Tom and appreciated his help, but when I learned of Tom’s comment, it wasn’t the first time he had disappointed me. A few other times he had disappointed me include the time he got me an oral interpreter (instead of an ASL interpreter – oral interpreting required a lot of lipreading on my part) for my Cell Biology discussion group at Harvard3, but that’s another story.
The second perspective came from my Ph.D. advisor, Jim Saunders at UPenn. As I’ve reported in several blogs, I’ve attended an annual Association for Research in Otolaryngology (ARO) Meeting since February 1990. One day in early 1990s, Jim and I shared the same flight back home after ARO. When we checked out of the airport, I offered Jim a ride home, which he accepted. We drove to his house without any incident. All good, all safe, all comfortable, all careful, all within the speed limit – that’s what I thought and that’s what I also thought he’d feel that way. As he got out of my car, we shook hands, after which I felt strange with his hand. It was cold and sweaty, and I wondered why. Was it because he had never been in a car driven by a young deaf adult (in his late twenties) before? Was he wondering how the hell I could drive any vehicle without being able to hear behind myself? Well, I had (and still have) never said this to Jim ever since then, but at least he got home safely without paying anything extra for the trip home from the airport. You’re welcome, Jim, and, no, there’s no harm in feeling what or how you had felt about my driving 30 years ago. But you were wrong.
References
1Deafness can be hazardous to life – Welcome (the-eagle-ear.com)
2Where deaf people can drive – Vivid Maps
3Why I Chose Neuroscience over Marine Biology – Welcome (the-eagle-ear.com)
Henry, as someone who got in the car with you many, many years ago, I can say I never felt safer given your focus and what appeared to be 10 mirrors to allow you to see in all directions. Although it was probably because I was young and foolish, I remember trying to distract you while you were driving and how you ignored me and kept your focus. With so many people blasting music, and nowadays looking at mobile devices while driving, it’s ironic that anyone would think being deaf disqualifies you from driving.
Carlos, as I’ve told you many times, I can’t hear you. LOL