I recently printed this out and put it in my car. While I can hear pretty well with my cochlear implants I had the thought: "What if my batteries died while driving and I got pulled over?"⠀
When I was 17 or 18 years old I got pulled over for rolling a stop sign. I turned onto a side street and because I couldn't hear well with my hearing aids, I got out of the car. Even though I gestured to my ears, this is exactly what I should NOT have done. I'd like to believe because I pointed to my ears, looked like a deer in headlights and was a young girl at the time, my life was spared. He placed his hand on his weapon, yelled at me to get back into my car and then approached me cautiously. ⠀
A police officer doesn't know if you've got a weapon or are going to be aggressive towards them so they must act accordingly⠀
I had a talk with a friend later about what I should have done. Here's a few tips we came up with:⠀
⠀1. Be prepared. Have a sign easily accessible that says "I'm Deaf," or "I'm Hard of Hearing." You may want to include your preferred way of communication.⠀
2. If you're called to pull over at night - try to do so in a well lit area so that you can see the officer's lips if needed.⠀
3. Pull over, roll down your window completely, turn the car off and place your hands on the wheel. This allows the officer to proceed with their job safely.⠀
4. Make eye contact with the officer but keep your hands where they can see them. FYI they typically ask for your license, insurance and registration in case you can't hear/read their lips. I tucked my "Driver is Hard of Hearing" sign in with my insurance/registration.⠀
5. Indicate and make sure they understand that you're going to reach for your information before you make any movements.⠀
6. If you can hear, great - if not, hopefully you can either read their lips (not sure how with recent mask regulations), write things down or use a transcribing app.
Check out our driving card!
