Program teaches blind students to drive

Imagine driving with your eyes closed.

That's what it was like for the dozen blind and visually impaired student drivers who took the wheel Thursday.

"We're going to die," joked 16-year-old Justin Coffin from the back seat as his Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind classmate Nick Chambers, 15, drove the car on the wet-skid course at the MasterDrive range.

Under the verbal navigation of a driving instructor in the passenger seat - and with radio music blaring - Nick averted a skidding disaster and calmly drove the car to the starting gate to change places with Justin.

MasterDrive offers the free blind driving session every few years.

"They can't drive on Academy, but they can learn to control a car," said Ronn Langford, MasterDrive's founder. "It's so young people can experience what in the world is driving about."

It's a freedom that typically eludes this set.

"It's one of those big rites of passage they never get to do. Their friends do, their brothers and sisters do," School for the Deaf and the Blind teacher Randy Witte said.

For visually impaired Josh Herbst, 15, driving is the talk of his sighted sophomore peers at Rampart High School.

"At this age all the kids are starting to get their permits, so this gives him a chance to get out there and really see what it's like," said his dad, Mike. "I haven't seen him smile like that in a long time."

Josh picked it up pretty quickly.

"I was interested to see how sensitive the gas pedal is," Josh said. "Once I got the hang of that, it was a lot of fun."

Students weren't the only ones getting a driving education. Parents and teachers put on blindfolds to see what it's like to not see the road.

"That's a whole different experience," said the elder Herbst, who plowed down several cones before lifting up the mask to get his bearings. "I rely so much on my vision."

The session is good training for the MasterDrive instructors in routine critical driving skills classes.

"It forces us to be very sharp verbally in coaching," MasterDrive general manager Jeff McIntosh said.

The only nervous creature on the range was Clover the guide dog, who watched anxiously on the sideline as his master, Terry Garrett, a 21-year-old college student, repeatedly drove away.

"Sighted people treat it as a norm," Garrett said. "It's like, hey, it's almost like a chore.

They say, ‘I have to be able to pay for gas, drive to work, deal with other traffic.' Being a blind person, it's entertainment to me. I look forward to it and everybody else looks not forward to driving."

The best part: "I like being able to take control of a piece of machinery that's a lot more powerful than I am," he said, "and it's good to not have to walk."

Nick said he liked going faster than his feet can take him.

He and Justin took turns driving, changing the radio dial to their favorite stations when they changed seats.

"Driver picks," Nick said.