Edit: Thanks everyone. I’ve heard your comments loud and clear. I will not wear headphones while driving.

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[–] 37 points 1 year ago (24 children)
  • [+] -8 points 1 year ago (22 children)

    Are deaf people not allowed to drive?

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  • [–] 26 points 1 year ago (13 children)

    Deaf people don’t have a choice not to hear and have heightened visual awareness. They also have accessibility tools to assist and bridge the gap in awareness.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (12 children)

    Oh nice? What kind of tools? I've always been curious. Although a heightened visual awareness seems dubious. How could you even begin to quantify that?

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  • [–] 13 points 1 year ago (11 children)

    Similar for smoke alarms, they have devices that essentially “listen” for specific sounds/frequencies and will then flash (AVC or audio-visual conversion) when triggered. Essentially “if this is flashing, the house is likely burning down”.

    Increased visual awareness is just “they pay more attention to this sense due to lacking another” rather than the stereotypical “Im blind but I can see sounds” like daredevil. It would be interesting to see if it is actually quantified or captured by studies though.

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  • [–] 0 points 1 year ago (10 children)

    Those types of accessories are not used whilst driving.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (9 children)
  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (8 children)

    Lol did you have to Google that. My wife is deaf, half my friends group are deaf. We are laughing at this.

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  • [–] 0 points 1 year ago (5 children)

    Im sure they are. All just standing around laughing at my link showing something exist that you claimed didn’t, that’s very funny after all.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (4 children)

    Just my wife and I. We are having breakfast and I showed her your comment, nearly spit her food out. Good times all round.

    Technology can be made to assist every disability just about. Have you seen or heard of anyone using this technology in the wild? What was that? Did you say no? Right, thats the same as us. Because apart from edge cases, pilot schemes or the-guy-on-the-internet-trying-to-win-internet-points, it isn't being used.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago* (3 children)

    Your wife spit her food at out the idea of someone providing the requested example of accessibility tools used by deaf or hard of hearing? Im hearing impaired by the way. Maybe you should show your totally real wife this study suggesting low penetration due to stigma attached using them. Maybe you should ask your wife how she’s feels about people using her disability as an excuse for being irresponsible while driving; though Im super worried she’ll just laugh at me again. Most of my partners haven’t seen or heard of most of the devices I use for hearing loss until they dated me. Guess that means they don’t exist by your definition.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago* (2 children)

    Please keep going. Tell me what sort of accessories you use whilst driving your car

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  • [–] 0 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Im good, it’s clear you’re not actually interested. Id hate for your real wife and all your deaf friends to laugh at me again for providing examples of said tools while you unironically claim Im “just trying to win an internet argument”.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago

    Dude, it wasn't even the thing about the deaf that we were laughing at. He was just the fact that people on the internet always start their next sentence with "wrong", and then continue with a really silly comment and that just made us laugh. It was just so laughable can't explain it. Sorry.

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  • [–] -3 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Just coming in later, would you please ask your laughing wife how she knows when she'll need to pull out of the way when an ambulance is approaching, and has she ever had one sneak up on her/catch her off guard?

    I bet she notices the lights and also other cars moving over, right?

    Because I've seen an ambulance get fucking stuck behind an asshole who was driving with headphones on. Lights and siren, but he was too fucking distracted to even notice. The cars on the other side of the double yellow squeezed over enough for the ambulance to get around, because they were paying attention. Like your wife does, I assume.

    Because what's in her ears is quietude, and that's not as distracting as whatever the headphones are playing.

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  • [–] 12 points 1 year ago (5 children)

    My driving instructor also taught people with various disabilities. He said with deaf people the examiners pay special attention to how much they look around.

    He also told the story of a guy with only one leg who really really wanted to ride a motorbike. The examiner made him stop at an incline dozens of times to make sure he always managed to fall to the side with his good leg and that the leg was strong enough to always hold the bike.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    That's really cool. As someone with my own disabilities, it had never occurred to me that I might be able to do things which may seem unrealistic to me now with a little guidance like this.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    Many had different accessibility gadgets. Someone missing a right arm would have the stick on their left, someone without legs had accelerator and breaks on levers, someone too short to reach them would have leg extensions. Really fascinating stuff.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (2 children)

    That's fair. It sounds like an official should sign off if they fill the necessary requirements to safety operate the vehicle. But the point I was trying to make is that hearing isn't a requirement to drive safely.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    Headphones don't just stop you hearing. They also inject extreme distraction. That makes them wonderful on the subway but terrible behind the wheel. Deaf people aren't listening to music or podcasts or anything at all except maybe their own thoughts.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Yes they are, and that's an entirely different situation.

    People who are deaf have learned to work with their disability, and reduce the inherently increased risk of not having auditory cues -screeching tires, honking, emergency sirens, etc. That is a life skill for them.

    OP, on the other hand, was asking about whether it was dangerous to voluntarily block out those cues in a situation which is already moderately risky (driving), and implicitly is someone who hasn't developed the compensating skills.

    The question was 'is it dangerous?' It absolutely is, as well as stupid and in some cases, illegal.

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  • [–] 0 points 1 year ago

    Have you considered people who have limited impaired hearing and not totally deaf? Do they acquire these life skills? Is it something that is taught or self learned. It just seems to me it's less about hearing and more about mindfulness and the paying the proper attention to your conditions.

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  • [–] 35 points 1 year ago* (7 children)

    It is dangerous to wear active noise cancelling headphones while driving.

    It is dangerous to wear passive noise cancelling headphones while driving.

    It is dangerous to wear any headphones (or earbuds) while driving.

    And very likely illegal.

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  • [–] -2 points 1 year ago (6 children)

    It is legal for a deaf person to drive. It is not dangerous. Listen to whatever you want however you want.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago (5 children)

    Deaf people live in a permanent state of being deaf, and will develop coping strategies that normally-hearing people will not have.

    Even with those coping strategies, it's clearly possible there are still some scenarios in which deaf people would fail to perceive an event or danger while driving, which a hearing person would notice, but we as a society have decided that's an acceptable level of risk because deaf people literally have no choice about being deaf, and it would be excessive to penalise them from being allowed to drive.

    On the other hand, when a normally-hearing person blocks out their hearing, they are literally choosing to impair themselves below normal functionality and to drive in that condition, increasing risk.

    Deaf people and wearing headphones are not the same argument.

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  • [–] -1 points 1 year ago* (3 children)

    Should we ban radios in cars or limit the volume level of the radio? Should we ban having phone calls whether hands-free or not?

    Totally agree that the risk is elevated whilst wearing headphones for a hearing person but not so much that it should make it illegal or even have to think about it.

    It's stuff like this that causes all the regulation in the world. Modicoddling us all like babies.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    For me, it is about being responsible and limiting your level of risk.

    Listening to music on the car speakers at a normal volume is far better than wearing headphones. You can still hear sirens, horns, your indicator lights clicking, and most other cues in the world that let you know what's going on.

    Silence is obviously better, if we are making that argument, but this discussion is about where we draw the line of acceptable risk. To me, speaker music is below that line, but blocking your ears with headphones is above it.

    I don't want a pointlessly over-regulated world either, but I do believe people should make their choices with consideration for the safety of themselves and others.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    I've spent the last 30 years deep in the deaf community and this conversation does come up now and then because the deaf can feel oppressed at times and I expect most deaf have had the "you shouldn't even be driving" comment thrown at them.

    The problem is, any heightened senses are not going to make much difference, and the deaf have the right to drive like anyone else and would fight for that right should it be threatened. I would fight for their right to drive too, and so at the same time I can't also say "but you can't wear headphones" as its a double standard.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

    Given your experience, I appreciete your perspective. For me I don't believe it's a double standard, for the reasons mentioned - deaf individuals have no choice in the matter while hearing people do.

    It's a similar argument to driving with a patch over one eye because you lost your eye, versus driving with a patch over one eye because you enjoy cosplaying as a pirate.

    We should all make sensible choices.

    And by the way, thank you for participating in this discussion with civility.

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  • [–] 16 points 1 year ago

    Yes. In many jurisdictions, it's illegal to use any kind of headphones while driving.

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  • [–] 12 points 1 year ago

    Many, many places it's illegal to drive with both ear buds in place. Thus, you'd never have "noise cancelling".

    Don't!

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  • [–] 12 points 1 year ago

    It's dangerous to use anything that blocks your hearing, even just regular headphones!

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  • [–] 20 points 1 year ago

    It's dangerous to use headphones with active noise cancelling while walking. What do you think?

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  • [–] 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

    Yes. Anything that interferes with your ability to pay attention to keeping the tonnes of metal you’re driving on the road, is dangerous. It’s a distraction and stops you from being able to hear audio cues like sirens, crossing signals, etc. Horns are also not entirely “fuck you” buttons but to warn other drivers of potential hazards, through sound. Use your cars sound system. Buy a shitty dongle if you have to; but headphones of any variety is a bad idea for driving. It’s also illegal in some jurisdictions.

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  • [–] 10 points 1 year ago

    Yes.

    That is the active removal of useful sensory information that pertains directly to driving.

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  • [–] 14 points 1 year ago (2 children)
  • [+] 7 points 1 year ago (4 children)
  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    I'm a cyclist. Within the context of cycling, everyone agrees that using headphones on a bike is very dangerous because it limits your situational awareness. Yet nobody bats an eye at cars playing music with rolled up windows in a much faster and heavier vehicle with bigger blind spots. Driving dangerously is way too normalized.

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  • [–] -1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    They very much bat an eye at drivers who use headphones/earbuds while driving--as they should because it is much more dangerous, blocking or muting external sounds while very actively drawing your attention because the sounds are being sent straight into your ear canal.

    Hearing through headphones is not comparable to hearing through an external speaker, even in an enclosed space.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Hearing through headphones is not comparable to hearing through an external speaker

    Disagree. I think they are very comparable. Wearing headphones in a car is only slightly worse than listening to loud music in the car. Cars have gotten quieter and more isolating, more powerful, bigger, faster, and with bigger blind spots over the years. You barely have any situational awareness if you even roll up the windows, nevermind playing music in any form. The difference between a stereo and headphones is splitting hairs.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago

    It's illegal in many parts too

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago

    I remember back when I was taking driving lessons to get my learner's permit, they specifically said never to war headphones while driving. I don't know if it's illegal or just discouraged, but the intent is that it removes one of your senses from being able to help you react while driving. So it puts you and everyone around you on the road at risk.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    If the problem is that your car is too loud, look into OTC hearing aids with active notice canceling. That way you can drown out the noise while still hearing important sounds.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    my point is noise cancelation mitigates mostly monotone noise, it has hard time with anything you would need to pay attention to in a car

    and i would argue "carefully listnening" to the racket going on in your car damages your hearing and you hear less longterm than using ear protection

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  • [–] -3 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    People acting like noise canceling headphones block your hearing. Thats only if you listen to something on insane volume.

    When I drive on highway I always have either earplugs or headphones, it mitigats wheel hum and wind noise. No way it blocks sirens, honking or even conversations.

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