Oregon aims to keep deaf drivers safe during traffic stops

SALEM, Ore. — A deaf driver is pulled over by the police. “They are scared to communicate with law enforcement officers because they are worried they would be shot in case they ‘act’ as if they are not listening to the police officers’ instructions,” said Steven Brown, vice president of Oregon Association of the Deaf. “The intent behind the measure is to provide law enforcement with this information before they come in contact with an individual who is deaf or hard of hearing,” Lindsay Baker, assistant director of the Oregon Department of Transportation, testified in support of the bill. Kate Brown signs the bill into law, law enforcement officers would be able to learn — before walking up to the vehicle — that a driver is deaf as they run the license plate through their database. “There have been too many incidents with tragic consequences between law enforcement officers and deaf people,” Howard Rosenblum, CEO of the National Association of the Deaf, told NBC News after Harris was killed.