A joint webinar from Slater and Gordon and Project EDWARD will examine the road safety risks associated with declining eyesight among older drivers, following a Lancashire coroner’s investigation into four preventable deaths.
‘Driving blind? Lessons from a preventable tragedy’ will take place on Tuesday 22 September, from 9.30–10.30am, and will bring together experts from policing, healthcare, road safety and advocacy.
The event follows an inquest examining three separate collisions involving older drivers with significant eyesight problems.
The cases included the deaths of Marie Cunningham, 79, and Grace Foulds, 85, who were struck by a car in Southport in November 2021. The driver, Glyn Jones, 67, had previously been advised that he was unfit to drive because of severe eye disease.
In March 2022, Peter Westwell, 80, was killed while crossing a road in Billington, near Blackburn. The driver, Neil Pemberton, 81, had reportedly been advised to stop driving as early as 2013 but continued to declare to the DVLA that there were no problems with his eyesight.
Anne Ferguson, 75, was killed in Whitworth in July 2023 after being struck by Vernon Law, 72, who had recently been diagnosed with severe cataracts in both eyes.
The cases led the coroner to question whether the current system of self-reporting visual fitness to drive is sufficient to protect road users.
The webinar will explore the roles of individual responsibility, medical professionals, licensing policy and enforcement in managing driver fitness, as well as the potential for earlier intervention, improved screening and greater collaboration between organisations.
The session will be chaired by Joy Allen, Durham Police and Crime Commissioner and Roads Policing Lead for the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners.
Speakers will include Steve Hardman, Police Relationship Manager at Slater and Gordon; Ross Moorlock, CEO of Brake; Helen Parkinson, Lead Investigating Officer for Lancashire Police; Dr James Adeley, retired Senior Coroner for Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen; and ophthalmologist and expert witness Richard Booth.
Jamie McDonnell, Strategic Partnership Lead at Slater and Gordon, said the aim was not to single out older drivers but to encourage an evidence-led discussion about responsibility, regulation and prevention.
He added that the cases had raised important questions about how driver fitness is assessed and whether current approaches to eyesight testing and self-reporting provide sufficient protection.
The webinar is aimed at policymakers, road safety professionals and others involved in driver fitness and safer roads.
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