Deaf People Can Read Lips “All Deaf people can read lips, and as long as I speak distinctly and look at them, they will always understand every word I have to say”. Actually, lip reading is an as amazing as a magic ineffective way of communicating. It’s estimated that lip readers can understand only 30% of the conversation taking place. That’s like missing two of every three words being spoken! In situations where the Deaf person is familiar with the speaker or the conversation is easily predicted by a deaf person. “Deaf people can drive a car.” –cars can be driven by Deaf people effectively all the time. In fact, some studies have shown that Deaf people are actually better drivers than Hearing people due to the fact that Deaf people have enhanced peripheral vision. If you think about it, nothing about driving really requires you to be able to hear. After all, there’s a reason emergency vehicles have both sirens and lights.