Brake is calling for the introduction of compulsory regular eyesight testing for drivers, on the back of a survey which the charity says shows strong public support for the move.
In the Brake survey of 1,000 drivers, 87% of respondents supported drivers having to prove they have had a sight test every 10 years, when they renew their licence or photo card. Brake points to research by the RSA Insurance Group which indicates this would “significantly reduce the estimated 2,900 casualties caused by poor driver vision each year”.
In the survey, 25% of respondents admitted they have not had their eyes tested in more than two years, and 19% said they had put off visiting the optician despite noticing a problem. In addition, what Brake describes as “a shocking one in eight drivers” (12%) who know they need glasses or lenses to drive have done so without them in the past year.
Brake says the survey also indicates that more than 1.5 million UK drivers (4%) have never had their eyes tested, and one in eight (12%) have not had their eyes tested for more than five years.
Brake is urging the Government to introduce a requirement for drivers to prove a recent, professional eye test when applying for a provisional licence, and at least every 10 years thereafter. The charity says this would save the public purse at least £6.7m a year by preventing crashes.
Julie Townsend, deputy chief executive, Brake, said: "Compulsory regular eyesight testing for drivers is a common sense, lifesaving move.
“Clearly the public agrees that the Government needs to act to tackle the alarming number of drivers taking a lax approach to their eyes.”
Mark Christer, managing director of personal insurance at RSA, said: "We want far more rigorous checks that drivers’ eyesight meets the minimum standards.
“The UK’s ‘number-plate test’ is a relic of the 1930s and it’s no wonder so many other EU countries have introduced more modern testing. It is time we did too.”
Could the RSA Insurance Group inform us how they obtained that figure of 2,900 casualties caused by bad eyesight? Or do we just automatically accept it as fact? Brake are always willing to exploit such statistics for its own ends and to sell their views by emotional and emotive arguments.
Terry Hudson, Kent
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I work in casualty reduction and also suffer with the conditon glaucoma. This is a condition where the optic nerve dies back until all sight is eventually lost. Although I have lost a significant amount of sight in one eye I can easily read a number plate at the required distance. The condition affects the weakest part of the optic nerves first. This is in the peripheral field of view. Sight closes in from this area until vision is restricted to a small area in front of the eye called tunnel vision. As I have lost periperal vision I can easily miss a vehicle or pedestrian moving in from the side. I do not notice this loss, my sight appears to be normal, but as I am aware of it I can compensate whilst driving. However, there are many drivers on our roads with this and other eye conditions who are not aware they have them. My view would be that all drivers should have regular eye tests including if necessary field test. A field test checks for peripheral vision loss. Not only will this help prevent some people losing their sight it will improve our crash rates, particularly the failed to see and failed to look properly. As with all other associated motoring costs the driver should pay. An eye test is not expensive, less than filling up with fuel. It may well prevent you as a driver becoming crash involved with all the problems that can bring.
Steve Harrison
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Dave Finney is right – relative cost effectiveness should be assessed before any road safety (and indeed every HMG) policy is implemented.
Idris Francis Fight Back With Facts Petersfield
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The NHS recommends that most people should have their eyes tested every two years, and some people should have tests more often. The Scottish NHS already provides these free to everyone from public funds. The Association of Optometrists estimated the benefits of free tests (eg early diagnosis and treatment preventing blindness) were almost ten times the costs of the tests, and I think that was without including accident savings. Compulsory tests for drivers would not add much to costs and would have other benefits too as well as improving road safety.
David S.
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Dave
A good percentage of the public wear glasses already and so already attend tests every 12-24 months – the results of which should be deemed valid. I agree that the cost and benefit would require working through, but I’m pretty sure that a very basic test (5 mins looking at a number plate or similar) would be offered by commercial partners at nil cost. They make their money selling the glasses. Put it another way, if DfT asks for bids I’m pretty sure they would all bid zero cost to capture thousands of potential customers. There may also be options to have the “number plate” at the post office or similar.
Pete, Liverpool
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Pete raises a good point. Even if eye tests were only £5, testing every 10 years would cost society £15 million every year (assumes 30m drivers). The first question is, can we afford it? The second is, is this the best use of £15m? We cannot really know whether to support eye tests until we know what the expected (not maximum) benefit may be and also what benefit other measures costing £15m could bring (eg maintaining police officer jobs that would otherwise be lost in the cuts, maintaining the number of nurses in the NHS etc).
Dave Finney, Slough
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This story has been in the news in years gone-by. The debate has often been around “who pays”. But I agree that at the very least a simple number plate test every 10 years should be tied to license renewal.
pete, liverpool
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If the number of casualties quoted is caused by poor driver vision then it must be based on data from all the post crash eye tests that have been carried out. If these tests show that a significant number of drivers and riders involved in casualty collisions do have defective eyesight then regular testing might be a good idea.
Duncan MacKillop, Stratford on Avon
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