www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/9839825/Police-get-new-powers-to-withdraw-licences-from-short-sighted-drivers.html
About time too. Too many people are killed and injured by those whose driving would be vastly improved by the purchase of a decent pair of spectacles.
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I don't want to undermine the eyesight thing but that was a coincidental factor in this death. The 87yr old was judged to have suffered "unintentional acceleration", the second time he'd hit something that week with the same likely reason.
Yet again this thing we (doctors, relatives, friends, the system) all seem unable to deal with... someone who has totally lost the ability to drive safely due to age.
Last edited by: Fenlander on Fri 1 Feb 13 at 09:01
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>> Yet again this thing we (doctors, relatives, friends, the system) all seem unable to deal
>> with... someone who has totally lost the ability to drive safely due to age.
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I do concede that other factors often contribute to these cases. Eyesight, however, is something which can and should be tested tested regularly, because its deterioration is often gradual, and unnoticed even by the patient.
Also has the advantage of getting people who wouldn't otherwise bother going to a doctor, in front of their GP to be checked out. The threat of losing ones driving licence tends to concentrate ones priorities in a way that minor ailments fail to do.
Last edited by: Harleyman on Fri 1 Feb 13 at 09:56
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My late grandpa was driving into his early 80's but he never actually passed a test, he was just given his driving licence when he was in the army as he used to be a 'fitter' in WW2. I assume he would have taken some sort of test, but by his own admission it was not a proper driving test.
He was always a pretty bad driver, even in his 40's apparently he would drive like a 90 year old screaming the engine etc. Towards his final driving years he used to routinely knock off mirrors in Tesco car park. My grandmother convinced him in the end that if he carries on it won't be a mirror he knocks off, but a child.
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>>Too many people are killed and injured by those whose driving would be vastly improved by the purchase of a decent pair of spectacles
Whilst eyesight is important, are you really saying that a significant number of people are killed where this is the cause?
I am skeptical.
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I hope there are no roadside checks here as I can not see far enough to stop in time.
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Surely shortsightedness is, up to a point, an advantage in seeing objects close to?
The ability to read a number plate at 25 yards is a poor guide to ability to avoid a door mirror at three feet.
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Seeing a certain distance may not be an issue but a test can reveal defects in other areas such as night vision, tunnel vision, colour blindness and peripheral vision.
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Possibly significant that cars such as the Aixam, that don't require a full driving licence, are popular in Spain. Presumably regular medicals, every 3 years over 70, weed out quite a few.
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a very short sighted view in my opinion...il get my coat....shuffle shuffle ,bumps into doors , knocks over cigarette receptical on the way out
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Roadside Eyesight Tests.... not before time! - Fenlander
