The Deaf are exactly like hearing
people. They like to drive cars. They need to drive cars. When you drive
a car you need to be alert. But this is one of the things which deaf people
often do BETTER than hearing people. The Deaf, with their hearing losses,
usually become very observant visually. Because of this, many are GREAT
drivers.
Sometimes clerks at rental car companies don't want to rent cars to deaf
drivers, because they think that not being able to hear might cause an accident.
These clerks are showing their ignorance. The truth is that, statistically,
deaf drivers have fewer accidents than hearing drivers. They are so accustomed
to responding to the visual world that they are more observant of what's
going on around them. They develop their peripheral vision more than hearing
people do. They see and avoid accident situations which hearing people might
not notice. Ask your insurance agent!
