Please note, the following occurred approximately 15 years ago, when my hearing loss was not as severe as it is now. At the time I wore in-the-ear (ITE) hearing aids, which are more comfortable than behind the ear (BTE) hearing aids, and I was wearing my ITEs during this incident:I was in a hurry to get home to my family after running errands all day. Suddenly, blinding light flooded my car. It appeared a semi-truck had lost its brakes and was inches behind me, or a drug-crazed driver was having a good time terrifying anyone on the road. I increased my speed to get away from the lunatic when the flashing siren lights on top of the car came into view. I pulled over to the side of the road immediately when I saw the law chasing me.
The deputy jumped out of his cruiser, his eyes angry. He began shouting, making incomprehensible sounds.
“I’m hard of hearing! I can’t understand what you’re saying!” I told him.
He visibly calmed down and moved closer to me. He asked in a loud voice, “Why didn’t you stop when my sirens were blaring?”
“I didn’t hear them. I’m hard of hearing, I wear hearing aids and I had music playing in my car!” I turned the tables on him a bit and inquired, “Why were you driving so closely to me? All I saw were your bright headlights in my rearview mirror. I didn’t see the flashing lights on top of your car until I speeded up. You really scared me.”
The officer changed the subject and asked, “Do you know why I pulled you over?”
“No. Was I speeding?”
“You ran the red light.”
To his credit, he did not give me a ticket.
Avoid a scene like this. Print out the visor cards created by The Center for Hearing Loss Help. It may save your hard of hearing life!
