Seeking driving licence to the speech and hearing impaired, particularly in Tamil Nadu, a youth (himself a speech and hearing impaired) reached Coimbatore on Saturday after driving across the country in his two-wheeler.

Shinan (28) from Thrissur in Kerala began his journey on July 13 from Kanyakumari and completed his journey on September 25, after covering nearly 16,000 km, including Nepal and Bhutan.

“He wanted to create an awareness and prove the capability to the authorities of some States who refuse to issue driving licences to his fraternity,” Haripriya, who translated Shinan’s sign language, at the district collectorate here, said.

A large number of such challenged persons had gathered at the collectorate to welcome Shinan.

On a specific question that whether licenses were refused because they cannot properly hear the sound of horn, he said “We can drive by viewing in the mirror and there is no chance of any problem in the time of heavy traffic. We should have equal justice and right,” he said.