Signs of the time! Hearing-impaired set to drive on Shanghai roads
Wu Fei, one of the applicants for driving license, receives driving training.
Wu takes a vision test at the Jiading District Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital.
Hearing-impaired people will be able to drive on the roads of Shanghai soon as the first batch of six passed a physical examination on Wednesday. They are now ready to receive driving training in suburban Jiading District.
The six disabled had their vision, hearing, and color identification ability assessed with the help of sign language volunteers at the Jiading District Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital and passed these tests.
"The other tests are the same as for normal people, but their hearing test relies on deaf-aid," Jin Weiguo, deputy director of the hospital, said.
Based on driving license application requirements released by the Ministry of Public Security, those with hearing impairment who can identify the direction of sound sources after they wear deaf-aid can apply for driving license for cars, Jin explained.
It will take three months at the earliest for them to finish training and pass related tests to obtain their driving license, according to the Shanghai Disabled Persons' Federation.
Wu undergoes hearing tests.
Wu Fei, one of the applicants, became deaf when she was just seven months old, an unwanted side-effect after receiving an antibiotic injection for high fever.
She now works as a mentor of a special class at the Shanghai Institute of Technology.
It takes her two hours for a single trip from her home to the university's suburban Fengxian District campus by public transport, giving birth to the idea of driving to work.
She needs to work at night, which worries her parents, who often drive to pick her up from the campus.
"They are nearly 70, and I don't want to bother them," Wu explained with sign language.
She expressed joy and relief after learning that the disabled can take driving tests as well.
The six disabled will receive training in a driver training school in Jiading's Anting Town, known for its automobile industry.
"I want to drive my parents as well and it has been my dream for years, which may come true soon," Wu said using sign language.
The Shanghai Anting Driving School is Shanghai's first and the only training base for people with hearing problems.
Two coaches with sign language interpretation skills will serve as their teachers.
The screens on the cars for hearing-impaired students are bigger than that of common cars and can be turned around for their convenience.
"We have 206 sign language volunteers who are ready to serve the hearing handicapped who apply for driving license," said Jin Fang, chairperson of the Jiading District Disabled Persons' Federation.
Shanghai has more than 80,000 disabled with hearing impairment, and several hundred of them are eager to drive themselves, per the Shanghai Association of Persons with Hearing Disabilities.
