DEAF MOTORISTS

Taranaki Daily News, 10 June 1932, Page 2

DEAF MOTORISTS

NO DANGER TO PUBLIC. - LONDON- SURGEON’S. VIEWS.. ■ ■ The much-debated question; of the usefulness of “hooting” on the roads and the fitness of deaf persons to drive a motor-car- has.;-beeir"'raited in a fresh form by Mr. T. B. Layton, surgeon in charge. of.Ahe cat-department at Guy’s Hospital, London. ■ Dificussing -in -. the British Medical Journal-the desirability of sounding the horn at cross-roads in the country, Mr. Layton argues that “it.is as likely to be a danger as a help,’owing to our deficient power of judging the direction from which a sound comes. Such power as We have,” Mr. Layton adds, “is less for a short, sharp sound and, I . believe, decreases directly with the speed, when one is in motion.” ... . . .

Except for those individuals who go under to- their disability and are unlikely to want to drive a car, Mr. Layton characterises the deaf driv/er as “probably very alert, having, great powers of interpreting the intentions of those in front of him. He is therefore .very likely to be a good driver.” Mr. Layton does not mention the necessity that a driver should be able to hear the horn of a car wishing to overtake, but it might be argued from, his premises that the provision of a mirror is now legally compulsory in England arid that a deaf driver is automatically more attentive to what is to be seen in it.

An official of the Ministry of Transport pointed out that deafness was not an automatic disqualification for a driving license and that in the event of a refusal it was open to the applicant to claim a test of his capacity for driving a car with safety. Since , the legal necessity for giving “audible: warning of approach” remains, although the latest highway code is more cautious, local, licensing authorities in England are left without any definite guide aa to the standard of* hearing to be demanded. It might even bo held, according to the Ministry, that the indivdiual was in the last resort responsible whether or not he had made a declaration of deafness. An official of the Automobile Association expressed the opinion that while a general pronouncement was difficult, he could visualise cases in which a deaf person could drive with safety, adding that “with careful driving the use of the horn is becoming less every day.”