Don’t take your eyes off the road. Of course, it’s good advice, but it doesn’t speak to your other senses. For example, think about the amount of work your ears are doing when you’re driving. You’re using your ears to connect with other people in your vehicle, call your attention to important information appearing on your dashboard, and help you monitor other vehicles.
So how you drive can change if you’re experiencing hearing impairment. That doesn’t inevitably mean you will need to quit driving because you’ve become overly dangerous. Inexperience and distracted driving are larger liabilities in terms of safety. That being said, those with decreased hearing should take some specific precautions to remain as safe as possible.
Hearing loss can impact your situational awareness but formulating safe driving habits can help you remain a safe driver.
How your driving could be effected by hearing loss
In general, driving is a vision-centric task (at least, if it’s not a vision-centric activity, something’s wrong). Even if you have complete hearing loss, your driving may change but you will still probably be able to drive. While driving you do use your hearing a lot, after all. Here are some typical examples:
- Audible alerts will sound when your vehicle is attempting to alert you to something, like an unbuckled seat belt or an open door.
- You can often hear emergency vehicles before you see them.
- Even though many vehicles are engineered to reduce road noise, your sense of hearing can raise your awareness of other vehicles. You will typically be able to hear an oncoming truck, for example.
- Your hearing will usually alert you when your car has some kind of malfunction. For example, if you run over something in the road or a rock hits your windshield.
- Other motorists will commonly use their horns to make you aware of their presence. If you fail to see the light turn to green, for example, or you begin to drift into the other lane, a horn can alert you before it becomes a problem.
All of these audio cues can help build your overall situational awareness. You could start to miss more and more of these audio cues as your hearing loss advances. But you can take some positive steps to keep your driving as safe as possible.
New safe driving habits to develop
If you’re dealing with hearing loss and you want to keep driving, that’s okay! Stay safe out on the road using these tips:
- Keep your phone stowed: Well, this is wise advice whether you have hearing loss or not. One of the leading causes of distracted driving, nowadays, is cellphones. And when you have hearing loss that distraction is at least twice as much. You will simply be safer when you put away your phone and it could save your life.
- Keep an eye on your dash lights.: Normally, your car will beep or ding when you need to look at your instrument panel for something. So periodically look down to see if any dash lights are on.
- Minimize in-car noises: It will be challenging for your ears to distinguish noises when you’re going through hearing loss. It could be easy for your ears to become overstimulated and for you to get distracted if you have passengers loudly speaking and music playing and wind blowing in your ears. So put up your window, turn down the music, and keep the talking to a minimum when driving.
- Check your mirrors more often: Even with sirens blaring, you may not hear that ambulance coming up behind you. So be vigilant about checking your mirrors. And keep the possible presence of emergency vehicles in mind.
How to keep your hearing aid driving ready
If you suffer from hearing loss, driving is one of those instances where wearing a hearing aid can really come in handy. And there are several ways you can be certain your hearing aid is a real advantage when you’re driving:
- Ask us for a “driving” setting: We can program a car setting into your hearing aid if you do a lot of driving. The size of the interior of your vehicle and the fact that your passengers will be speaking to you from the side or rear will be the variables we will use to fine tune this “car setting” for smoother safer driving.
- Get the most recent updates and keep your hearing aid charged and clean: You don’t want your hearing aid batteries to quit right in the middle of a drive to the store. That can be distracting and perhaps even dangerous. So be sure everything is working properly and the batteries are charged.
- Use your hearing aid each time you drive: If you don’t wear it, it won’t help! So every time you drive, make certain you’re wearing your hearing aids. By doing this, your brain will have an easier time getting used to the incoming signals.
Hearing loss doesn’t mean driving is a problem, particularly with hearing aids which make it easier and safer. Developing good driving habits can help ensure that your drive is pleasant and that your eyes stay safely on the road.
