Upon application by any legal resident of the State of Mississippi who is deaf, the State Tax Commission shall prepare and issue through the county tax collectors a special license plate for not more than one (1) vehicle that is registered in the applicant's name. The initial application shall be accompanied by the certification of a licensed physician that the applicant meets the definition of deaf persons set forth in this section. An applicant for a special license plate shall not be required to pay any fee or charge for the issuance of such license plate separate from or in addition to the road and bridge privilege taxes, ad valorem taxes and registration fees otherwise required by law to be paid for the issuance of a regular license plate for such vehicle. The design of the special license plate shall be executed in a manner which will alert others that the vehicle is registered in the name of a person who is deaf.
For the purpose of this section, the term "vehicle" includes motorcycles, and the term "deaf" means any person whose hearing is totally impaired or whose hearing is so seriously impaired as to prohibit the person from understanding oral communication when spoken to in a normal conversational tone.