I was asked to go on short day trip with work. Excited to be on a train out of Delhi, it was a great chance to chat to my colleagues out of the office, to get ideas about where my work with them and VSO will go. On arrival we got picked up by a Deaf man. I was astounded. I’d noticed some tweets on Twitter before I came to India that Deaf people aren’t allowed to have driving licences and here was someone Deaf driving.It was explained like so: they can drive so they do, the law is behind on these things. Fair play. India is more than behind on this one, why wait?
The Chief Executive of my organisation is currently going through every law relevant to Deaf people in India, and there are many, to advise government about the necessary changes to bring them in line with the UNCRPD and human rights recommendations. He has been reading out of parts of the law and they are archaic. It’s a bit like hearing about some of the old laws in the UK still in existence such as, a man who feels compelled to urinate in public can do so only if he aims for his rear wheel and keeps his right hand on his vehicle.
The National Association for the Deaf (NAD) has been campaigning for Deaf people to be able to hold driving licences for some time. Last week NAD were featured on page two of a national newspaper, The Hindustan Times. There was news that the Supreme Court of India had turned down their appeal on the grounds that driving here is more dangerous and they wouldn't be able to hear the honking.
In comparison to some countries driving here is more dangerous but that doesn’t make Deaf people any less able to drive. There are only 26 countries where Deaf people are not yet legally allowed to drive. It’s a shame then that India is one of them. Anyone who has been to Rome or Paris can see the chaos there where Deaf people are allowed to drive. Can a driver playing tunes with a thumping bass hear the honking? The appeal was turned down illogically. I spent some time in the car and I was no more scared than I usually am!
Frankly I was more scared by the two dumper trucks that drove towards us down the fast lane of the "motorway" heading to Delhi from Agra. I bet the drivers weren't deaf - just too lazy to use the correct side of the road!
ReplyDeleteAs our driver turned and said to us with a shrug as we screamed at each other in the back seat... "Is India".
I'm not an expert on Indian driving so can't comment on whether it's laziness or not.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds normal and the driver is right though...it's India!