People choose this option driven not so much by their pursuance for inclusion as by rational egoism.
“I would prefer a taxi with such driver on Monday morning”, “when I have to speak to someone with no one listening”, “if I was crying my eyes out in the back seat but didn’t want the driver to hear it” – such answers were given by taxi users in a survey conducted by the Citymobil taxi service together with Research.mail.ru. The poll showed that almost every third respondent would prefer a driver with a hearing or speaking disability, with 30% voting for this option.
This symbiosis of the rational egoism and a proper attitude to people with such disabilities is not surprising. Back when people were just starting to use taxi aggregators, such as YandexTaxi, Uber or Citymobil, the absense of necessity to communicate with a driver, which had been some kind of duty for a passenger, was especially valued and noted by first users.
Yet, not everyone would be glad to use a taxi driven by such a person. 43% of women and 39% of men said they would feel concerned about being driven by a deaf and mute person, possibly for the fact that such driver would fail to react to the audible alarm warning signals. This group of respondents has the most number of adult persons aged 45 and older, while for almost half of young respondents, this disability makes no difference at all, the survey revealed. Over 50% of those polled said drivers with such disabilities show a greater care for passengers and they are more focused on the road, adding that they show a faster recation, are more quick-sighted, and do not get distracted by noise.