Ireland on the road to safety

While the UK government is proposing to relax vision standards for motorists (News, 11.02.11), the Republic of Ireland has already taken an important step to improving road safety.

For many years, Ireland has taken a different approach to the UK when assessing drivers' vision. Applicants for a learner permit (a provisional licence) have long been subject to an assessment of visual acuity (VA) and visual fields, performed by a medical practitioner or optometrist, to determine whether their vision was adequate to drive safely. In addition, drivers aged 70 and over have attended for a medical assessment by their GP (which included vision), prior to renewing their licence, to assess their fitness to drive. Historically GPs have referred cases of doubt or failure for optometric assessment.