Costa Christou: Why I set up a BSL Driving School

BSL Driving School is the only driving school in the UK that specialises solely in teaching Deaf and Hard of Hearing people to drive. I started this driving school for Deaf and HoH people as I noticed that there were no driving schools that taught Deaf people to drive to a high enough standard.

Some driving schools say that they are ‘Deaf aware’ but that usually means making eye contact and finger spelling which is not practical when you are driving as your eyes need to be on the road ahead.

I am qualified at BSL level 4 and as I find British Sign Language so fascinating and addictive I have recently began learning BSL level 6. I have been teaching Deaf people to drive since 2008. A few years later I started posting a few videos on Facebook of me teaching Deaf people to drive. The videos were getting tens of thousands of views and hundreds of enquiries from Deaf people all over the UK asking me to teach them to drive.

In 2018 I opened up BSL Driving School for the Deaf, based in London and I help Deaf people prepare for and pass both the car theory test and the practical driving test. I help them with anything driving related so whether it is getting their provisional licence, studying for the theory test, or learning to drive, when they contact BSL Driving School, I guide them through everything they need to do.

The most rewarding time for me as a tutor is when my Deaf learners pass their driving test first time! I also teach Deaf people the theory test too in BSL.

When my Deaf learners are driving, I sign the directions and instructions underneath the interior/middle mirror so that way my learners are keeping their eyes on the road at all times. If I need to explain something it will either be when we are stopped at traffic lights or if it’s something that needs a lot of explaining, then we can pull over somewhere safe and convenient and we can communicate in British Sign Language.

I teach my Deaf learners everything they need to know from moving a vehicle to reversing exercises. We cover the entire ‘learning to drive’ syllabus in BSL and I also help them to book their driving test too. Finally, when my Deaf learner drivers are ready for their driving test, we practice some mock tests where I act as their driving test examiner. This gives the learner driver the same feel as the real driving test and helps prepare them for their big day.

Regarding driving lessons, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) say that the average learner driver needs around 45-50 hours of driving lessons with around 20 hours of practising with family before they are ready for their driving test. This can vary from person to person.

The majority of my Deaf learners pick up driving a lot quicker than a lot of hearing learners. Deaf people tend to feel the car much better than hearing people, when they raise the clutch to get the biting point they can feel it a lot more than hearing people so that really does help.

Deaf learner drivers check around a lot more than hearing learner drivers tend to do as Deaf learner drivers cannot rely on hearing vehicles so their observations are always great whereas hearing learner drivers tend to rely on listening out for approaching vehicles and that is not always a good idea these days as so many cars are quiet plus you can’t hear cyclists.

In 2019, I was contacted by BBC One and invited to be part of a TV episode about teaching Deaf people to drive. It was filmed in Wood Green, North London at the driving test centre I take my learner drivers to with my then learner Nelema. They filmed some of our driving lessons in which I was teaching Nelema to drive in BSL.

The last part of the filming was on the day of her driving test in which I was interpreting for her whilst she met her driving test examiner. She completed her test and returned to the driving test centre where it was revealed she had passed her driving test 1st time!

I would recommend these key steps to getting your driving licence:

• Apply for your provisional licence as you need this before you can learn to drive. It costs £34 to buy your first provisional licence online and £43 if you apply by post.
• Start studying for the theory test as you will need to pass the theory test before you can book your practical driving test. The best site for learning the theory test is BSL Theory Test as this has all the official theory test questions with thousands of added pictures to help make learning the car theory test more visual.
• When you are ready to book your car theory test you can go on to the GOV.UK website and book the theory test there. It costs £23 to book the car theory test.
• Learn to drive with BSL Driving School as this is the only driving school that signs BSL level 4 and specialises solely on teaching Deaf people to drive.
• When booking your practical driving test go on to GOV.UK and you can book your practical driving test in the area that you have been practising in. It costs £62 to book a practical driving test.
• If you are unable to find a suitable practical driving test date and you’re in need of driving test cancellations then Earlier Driving Test is the site many of my learners have had great success using.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article and if you have any questions please feel free to contact me on the BSL Driving School Facebook page.

Regards,
Costa Christou

Costa is a Grade A, approved Driving Instructor and founder of BSL Driving School. He started learning BSL in 1988, started his career as a driving instructor in 2005 and in 2008 started teaching Deaf people to drive. Outside of work Costa loves to travel to Europe, Asia, and the surrounding countries. https://www.facebook.com/bsldrivingschool/