Eyesight requirement for driving

[atoz]

There was a piece on BBC Breakfast about this today where an optometrist was interviewed in a piece about a cyclist killed by a driver with poor vision. Makes you think why the Department for Transport have no plans to tighten things up. Worth catching up on iPlayer but don't hang about it will only be there for 24 hrs https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006v5tb

It was on at 7.46 am, you just need to fast forward iPlayer to that time on BBC Breakfast.

[fastpedaller]

I can't understand any reluctance to introduce a compulsory eye test for driving licence holders. It is a positive for all drivers, and for those over 60, the test is free. As people age they are more likely to have eyesight issues. Also, an eye test can detect other conditions that may otherwise go unnoticed, improving general health and road safety. No reason not to unless "we don't want to change anything that might make us unpopular'

[atoz]

I can suggest another reason. There's probably more people than you'd think not having acceptable vision for driving. If the requirements were tightened they would not legally be able to drive. So how would they get around? By our not so wonderful public transport of course. Only snag with that is many people live in areas with poor public transport. So they wouldn't be going anywhere unless someone else drives them around.

Did anyone think of this when buses were privatised? Or maybe they did... because subsidized public bus services cost money. I mean, "you can't buck the market." You couldn't make it up.

[fastpedaller]

This needs looking into by Gov.t (Oops, just realised what I said there)

[Tangled Metal]

Subsidised bus services? What like the £2 bus ticket scheme we once had? When that came in my backup to get to work after the train was a £12 return bus ticket. That scheme made it £4 return journey in two separate tickets. Train ticket was £8 something at the time. Mind you, I am very lucky in that my little villlage has a train station in it with a good service when it runs (Northern not always guranteed).Or a 20 minute ride on myu Brommie to the nearby little town and a decent bus service between the nearest large town and the nearest little city I worked at.

Whatever the case with buses they do need to change the system to determine fitness to drive. It is not just eyesight that is the issue, it is also other matters thst can make someone a significant risk driving a big metal box on wheels. I knew of elderly relatives who drove long after they should have stopped. Family doesn't tell such people they should stop as it isdsd difficult to take away one of their last big freedoms. Then there is the issue of medical practitioners who won't inform the relevant body that a certain person has a condition that may or most likely will make them unsafe for driving. GPs do not report such conditions and despite I believe there is a mechanism or a system for doing so they do not. I know of someone whose GP had determined that he had had a mild stroke that made him unsafe to drive. That GP never told or made that clear to the guy and he carried on driving since he had no idea. Besides he lived 10 miles or so from anywhere and the nearest bus stop was quite a few miles walk away. Anyway it turned out that after his crash he had actually got a brain tumour not a stroke and most certainly was unfit to drive.

Being unfit to drive is not just a factor of aging, there are many who are not suited to drive. You could say that about young men with passengers, certainly not without restrictions. I also question people who take a lot of driving tests before they pass. Perhaps there should be a number of tests allowed before they havbe to sit out a certain number of years before they can go again. I know some terrible drivers I do not like to be a passenger in their car who took 3, 4, 5 or a lot more (I think the worst was 8 tests). Unfitness to drive is so complex and the system is not right as it is. Eyesight is but one element that is not right.

PS as an aside, I have normal, high prescription glasses that I wear all the time. Until my last eyetest when I got a lower prescription to use as reading and computer glasses (they were tailored to make reading at 60 to 90cm distance which is my work desk paper/book reading and my screen reading distance range. I hate chooseing glasses and being at a new and better opticians I had to choose new frames. I always just buy the same ass last time with each new prescription but this opticiancs did not have the same ranges. SO I found one pair that suited me and got both glasses in the same frame. Being made of recycled fishing nets recovered from the sea there is an ever so slight difference in collour but I can not see it all the time. I often forget to change them over when not reading. This occasionally means I do other things wearing my reading glasses. One time I only realised after driving 5 miles to the nearby village/town for a doctors appointment. I got worried but before driving home I did a quick sight check llke they did when I passed my test decades earlier. I reead out a number plate from 20m away. I could easily so I drove home. But I have always triied my best not to repeat that mistake. It is easy to check a number plate from over 20m away. If you can then you are ok. Just need to calibrate your 20 metres!!

[TrevA]

Near where I live, a 75 year old woman ran down a cyclist from behind and killed him. She had defective eyesight and shouldn’t have been driving. She was prosecuted and was forced to surrender her licence to avoid a prison sentence. 9 month suspended sentence and 10 year driving ban.

https://www.nottinghamshire.police.uk/n ... san%20Juke.

My own father didn’t give up driving until he was 84. He’d bought a new car but kept scraping the side of it, because he couldn’t see well enough to reverse into his drive without hitting the gatepost.

I have a free annual eye test because I’m a type 2 diabetic, so I would know if my eyesight was getting worse.

[axel_knutt]

What percentage of road accidents does eyesight account for?

So how would they get around?

On a bike.

When the DVLA Medical Centre had my licence I was hopping mad, but by the time I got it back I'd got used to doing without the car, and never put it back on the road.

Then there is the issue of medical practitioners who won't inform the relevant body that a certain person has a condition that may or most likely will make them unsafe for driving. GPs do not report such conditions and despite I believe there is a mechanism or a system for doing so they do not. I know of someone whose GP had determined that he had had a mild stroke that made him unsafe to drive. That GP never told or made that clear to the guy and he carried on driving since he had no idea.

GPs don't want the responsibility of making a decision because they're scared of the DVLA. When I asked the GP about ocular migraine he just refused to answer, and when I asked a cardiologist about AF he visibly squirmed in his chair, then avoided the question. These days I have saccadic dysmetria, but nobody has mentioned fitness to drive. The GP was very quick to write in my records when I told her I sometimes have difficulty judging the speed and distance of moving objects, but said nothing. I wasn't driving anyway, so I don't intend to resume, even though my poor health means that I would have done otherwise.

I always just buy the same ass last time with each new prescription but this opticiancs did not have the same ranges.

The problem I have with new frames is getting the nose pads set so that they don't hurt my broken nose, so lately I've just been opting for a re-glaze.

SO I found one pair that suited me and got both glasses in the same frame. Being made of recycled fishing nets recovered from the sea there is an ever so slight difference in colour but I can not see it all the time. I often forget to change them over when not reading.

I once got my old prescription muddled with the new one, and didn't notice I was wearing the wrong glasses for two years.

[atoz]

Just very recently had a sight test. Fortunately nothing to be concerned about. But always take up the option of the OCT test when you do have a test. Well worth it.

[atoz]

What percentage of road accidents does eyesight account for?

So how would they get around?

On a bike.

Would you really want someone whose eyesight is really bad riding a bike? Especially if they have other health conditions as well. Just a thought.

[axel_knutt]

What percentage of road accidents does eyesight account for?

So how would they get around?

On a bike.

Would you really want someone whose eyesight is really bad riding a bike? Especially if they have other health conditions as well. Just a thought.

You're right, we'd better start testing, licencing and insuring cyclists so that the DVLA medical centre can confiscate their licences if their health isn't up to scratch. That'll slash the number of deaths on the roads.

Come to think of it, that's probably what's meant by 'Failed to Look Properly'.
.

[mjr]

What percentage of road accidents does eyesight account for?

So how would they get around?

On a bike.

Would you really want someone whose eyesight is really bad riding a bike? Especially if they have other health conditions as well. Just a thought.

Depends how bad. I've ridden perfectly safely with eyesight problems that prevented driving. It's a lot safer when your stopping distance is a couple of metres instead of 96, and ultimately you can stop and ask the thing in your path that you're unsure about if it's a person!

I'd certainly rather they rode a bike than if they drove!

[atoz]

What percentage of road accidents does eyesight account for?

So how would they get around?

On a bike.

Would you really want someone whose eyesight is really bad riding a bike? Especially if they have other health conditions as well. Just a thought.

Depends how bad. I've ridden perfectly safely with eyesight problems that prevented driving. It's a lot safer when your stopping distance is a couple of metres instead of 96, and ultimately you can stop and ask the thing in your path that you're unsure about if it's a person!

I'd certainly rather they rode a bike than if they drove!

Agreed. Although the quicker you are riding, weather conditions, traffic etc are also factors. Doesn't take much on a descent to touch 30 mph or more. And there's your reaction time to consider esp as you get older. To be sure cycling is less critical but it's something to bear in mind, especially allowing for other road users reaction time to avoid you.