CHENNAI: People with hearing impairment will soon be able to get driving licenses if they pass the regular tests. The road transport ministry has made this provision and directed all state governments to comply observing that driving is primarily a visual skill.
For safety, the ministry has recommended that people can use hearing aids or cochlear implants or use specific stickers on the front and back of the vehicle to alert other motorists that the driver has a hearing disability.
Activists in Tamil Nadu are now pressuring the government to implement this order. "It is a welcome move and we hope it is the first step towards including people with other disabilities to also avail driving licenses," said Namburajan S, general secretary of Tamil Nadu Association for the Rights of all Types of Differently-abled and Care Givers. "Most three-wheeler drivers with physically disability do not have licenses."
Special educator S K Mariappan who has locomotor disability on his left leg was denied a driving license last year. "The doctors in the RTO said I am not fit to drive a vehicle but only one leg of mine is affected and my right leg is strong and I can independently push my scooter forward and back," he said. "So, I fought and they gave me a certificate with permission to drive a vehicle but I still don't have a license. The state government offers free motorised vehicles giving preference to those having disability on both legs but can move around using their hands. And the same government refuses to give us licenses to drive these vehicles."
The demand for amendment of the law to allow those with hearing impairment to have a driving license has been going on for over a decade and some of the cases have also been referred to courts across the country. Most recently a public interest litigation was filed in the Bombay high court and the court sought views from AIIMS, New Delhi. It concluded that it was important to grant this opportunity to the disabled as other nations give people with hearing impairment the privilege of driving. In June, the National Highways Authority of India waived toll fee at highway booths for vehicles specially designed or built for a differently-abled person.
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