There's a New Ride-Hailing Feature for Deaf Drivers

Deaf drivers have faced a litany of challenges. In the 1920s, a handful of states passed legislation barring them from the road, reports Gallaudet University, a preeminent institution for deaf students. There was even talk about federally mandated hearing tests for drivers. During that era, the National Association of the Deaf formed an Automobile Bureau tasked with gathering statistics about deaf drivers’ safety records. Then, in 1929, The Philadelphia Record reported that none of the 177 licensed deaf drivers in the city had been involved in an accident. Ultimately, states repealed their policies. Still, discrimination remains.

“The biggest misconception is that deaf people cannot drive at all, or safely,” Howard A. Rosenblum, CEO of the National Association of the Deaf, told CityLab. “The truth is that deaf people have been driving since the advent of cars, and studies have shown that deaf drivers are just as safe as or even safer than drivers who can hear.” That assertion is backed up by recent data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA), which published a literature review of relevant research, concluding that the majority of deaf drivers are at no greater risk than drivers without hearing impairments. Writes the NHTSA: