The ministry is amending regulations on applications for driving licences and driving tests.

According to the draft amendment of the regulations, which the ministry has released to solicit public opinion on it, disabled people must inform the authorities of any special circumstances that may affect their driving ability, including use of a hearing aid or glasses or whether or not the person involved drives a car adapted for the disabled.

Disabled people will be able to apply for a driver's licence as long as they meet certain requirements, Hao Erkang, an official with the China Disabled Persons' Federation, said yesterday.

The disabled are looking forward to enjoying the right to drive, he said.

Some members of the public worry about whether it is safe for disabled people to drive cars. But Hao said the experience of disabled drivers in other parts of the world has proven that it is safe for them to drive if they have received proper training and use suitable cars.

China will need a set of strict standards to test a disabled person as a driver, said Yang Yang, vice-president of the Association of the Hearing-Impaired.

A spokesman with a driver's school in Beijing, who refused to be named, said that his school would be able to train a disabled person to become a good driver.

The authorities are expected to put forward guidelines for refitting cars for the disabled, said Wang Kaiyan, an official with the federation's branch in Beijing's Dongcheng District.

Motor manufacturers in China usually ask car buyers not to refit their products for security reasons.

The FAW Car Co Beijing office said: "The demand for cars for disabled drivers has thus far been minimal and thus the cost of refitting is high."

Car-makers would prefer to provide refitting services with the assistance of the authorities, the company said.

(Xinhua News Agency June 17, 2003)