What Disabilities Do Limit You From Driving Anyway?

[royaltyler]

Because after seeing this:
I think only blindness would stop you from being able to drive, and I mean legally. Also, only if you are completely blind you can't drive, maybe partially too, but I heard that depending on how blind you are you can only drive during the day, and color blind people can drive even though stop lights have different colors because they are made so that even people who see in black in white can tell the difference. I am focusing on the topic of blindness though, when I would like to focus on every kind of handicap, though.

[Gandara]

As far as I know, it will vary from country to country. Typically it's just a matter of whether you can drive safely with the disability you have. People with no arms or no legs can get specially designed cars that allow them to operate the vehicle with the limbs they have available, but of course this is potentially hindered by other factors as well. It's taken on a case-by-case basis as far as I know.

There are some other disabilities that can keep people from operating cars or heavy machinery. A friend of mine from high school had a form of epilepsy where he would "zone out" for several moments at a time. It was seemingly random, sometimes triggering frequently (more than once per hour), sometimes with longer periods between. He could not remember what he was doing during these blank periods, he would cut off conversation mid sentence if he zoned right in the middle of one, and he would just sort of stare blankly forward into nothing. I know for a fact that he cannot get a driver's license because his condition is a significant hazard, not only to himself but to others. If he zoned while behind the wheel he'd crash, no questions.

[Brogurt]

>deaf
>can't hear horns or sirens

[Oddball]

Also, only if you are completely blind you can't drive, maybe partially too, but I heard that depending on how blind you are you can only drive during the day, and color blind people can drive even though stop lights have different colors because they are made so that even people who see in black in white can tell the difference.

The first thing you have to ask yourself is, "could the person pass the vision test?"

Somebody like Lilly who is completley blind obviously could not. Nor could somebody that's legally blind to the extent of Kenji. However I do know some people that are legally blind without glasses but can drive with glasses perfectly fine.

As for driving only at day, there is a condition called night blindness where a person can see normally in regualr light, but in situations and areas with no light (for instance having to rely on just their headlights and the lamp posts) they would be effectivly blind and unable to drive. There is also the opposite of this condition where people can see fine at night but can't in well light areas or during the day, but this condition is extremely rare.

People should be able to drive with most forms of colorblindness, total colorblindness I'm unsure about.

[WorldlyWiseman]

People should be able to drive with most forms of colorblindness, total colorblindness I'm unsure about.

Traffic lights in the US are laid out specifically so that the color is mostly irrelevant, so total colorblindness shouldn't be an issue on that front.

[Kutagh]

>deaf
>can't hear horns or sirens

Yeah, that is the only issue with deafness... But not a serious issue.
Sirens, usually you can notice a behavior change around you and/or see the sirens lights flashing. Horns, they rarely have any meaning (usually used to act as expressing your annoyance). Nah, I wouldn't worry too much about a Deaf driver.

[Axelownz]

I only know 2 people who have disabilities. The first is my uncle who is paralyzed from the waist down and in a wheelchair from a motorcycle accident when he was younger, thankfully the helmet saved his life. He can drive a car, and has this pole thing that pushes down the gas and brake pedals.

My other friend is legally blind, pretty much exactly the same as Kenji, maybe not quite as bad but its really close. He can never drive a car though. He even has his own sign in his street that says caution blind child, even though he is 22 now its still there.

Actually my sister has slight Autsim as well, but she is so high functioning for it, people can not tell at all that she has it, and are surprised if they are ever told, so i don't really consider her to have a disability.

actually now that i think of it too, i have a colorblind friend, havent seen him in a long time since highschool in 2007, but he could drive just fine. One of my best friends is slightly colorblind but can drive just fine too.

[metalangel]

>deaf
>can't hear horns or sirens

Complete garbage.

[ravenlord]

Where I am from, they make you take a vision test with and without glasses. If you can only pass with glasses, then a notation is put on your license that you can only drive with corrective lenses. If you get caught driving without glasses, then it is the same penalty as driving without a license, and it is a pretty stiff penalty.

As far as other disabilities, we also have a written test and a practical test that we have to pass. You have to pass both. Thr practical test can be hard even for someone with no disabilities, so it does a pretty good job of weeding out those who should not be driving.

[minkus]

>deaf
>can't hear horns or sirens

Yeah, that is the only issue with deafness... But not a serious issue.
Sirens, usually you can notice a behavior change around you and/or see the sirens lights flashing. Horns, they rarely have any meaning (usually used to act as expressing your annoyance). Nah, I wouldn't worry too much about a Deaf driver.

There are new safety features in cars coming out where they will give a physical notice (like a vibration) if they are too close to something. Right now it seems to be mostly for going in reverse, but it means that soon cars will be addressing your other senses as well.

[Kutagh]

>deaf
>can't hear horns or sirens

Yeah, that is the only issue with deafness... But not a serious issue.
Sirens, usually you can notice a behavior change around you and/or see the sirens lights flashing. Horns, they rarely have any meaning (usually used to act as expressing your annoyance). Nah, I wouldn't worry too much about a Deaf driver.

There are new safety features in cars coming out where they will give a physical notice (like a vibration) if they are too close to something. Right now it seems to be mostly for going in reverse, but it means that soon cars will be addressing your other senses as well.

Not hard to implement considering there's already an audible version of that. If properly designed, you just have to replace the output hardware and write a corresponding output function for it (like in some cars like the recenter Renault Scenic it also shows it on the dashboard together with the auditive beeping). Although I don't know if I want to sit on a vibrator, for example getting stimulated a bit too much when having a serious car crash... lol.

[Brogurt]

>deaf
>can't hear horns or sirens

Complete garbage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deafness

[Guest]

>deaf
>can't hear horns or sirens

Complete garbage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deafness

Wait, did you just disprove yourself?

Myths regarding people with hearing losses

There are many myths regarding people with hearing losses including, but not limited to:

1. Everyone who is deaf or hard of hearing uses sign language.
There are a variety of different sign systems used by hearing-impaired individuals.[27]
Individuals who experience hearing loss later in life usually do not know sign language.[28]
People who are educated in the method of oralism or mainstream do not always know sign language.
2. People who cannot hear are not allowed to drive.

[Guest]

I'll admit that it does say that there are at least 26 countries that don't allow deaf people to hold a license, but that's hardly a universal standard.

[Surreal-mind]

I've been sitting here... trying to come up with something intelligent to say but I can't ...
I just can't stop thinking about that ferrari scene in "scent of a woman". I can't get it out of my head now !