Deaf drivers should not lose privilege to
drive
As a student at CSULB with two deaf parents
I was insulted by the Daily Forty-Niner's editorial view of deaf drivers.
The article published on Tuesday Oct. 26
stated that " ... the hearing impaired should not be driving. They may
pose a serious hazard to others on the road ... "
Just because a person cannot hear does
not make them a hazard to others.
Whenever a person loses one of his senses
his other remaining senses oftentimes become more sensitive.
Deaf people may not be able to hear the
sirens but they are definitely more likely to see the flashing lights and
see other drivers pulling over to know that they too need to pull over.
The accidents involving emergency vehicles
at an intersection are caused by inattentive drivers, not just deaf drivers.
So there is no basis for stating that deaf drivers are oblivious to " ...
fire and police units that tend to sneak up on motorists at high speeds."
You will never see a deaf driver fumbling
with a cell phone, or searching for a radio station, like countless other
people do on the roads everyday. The editorial asumes that just because
a person cannot hear that they do not deserve a right to drive.
Which is worse, a deaf driver; or a person
in a luxury vehicle with the windows up, A/C on, and radio playing?
The only difference between these two drivers
is that the deaf driver is more likely to be aware of what is going on
around them than the driver with hearing.
-- Matthew Valbuena, pre-industrial
design major |
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