Update January 2006

Deaf people are not allowed to obtain driver’s licences in Japan. That was the surprising news reported by Mainichi Newspapers last November. The Japan Federation of the Deaf is asking the National Police Agency to revise its regulations to allow licences for deaf motorists.

“We need cars in our private lives and for our jobs,” said Yutaka OSUGI, a top secretary of the federation. “We would like to take part in society.”

Until recently, Japan’s Road Traffic Law totally banned deaf people from obtaining driver’s licences. In 2001, the ban was partially lifted, requiring people to hear a 90-decibel sound from 10 metres away. But deaf people face no such restrictions in the US, Britain, Germany, France or Australia, leaving OSUGI to wonder, “why aren’t deaf people in Japan allowed to get a licence?”