MPs back Vision Express road safety campaign

MPs have backed a Vision Express campaign to end fatal road collisions at the hands of visually-impaired motorists.

The campaign asks the government to display ‘Eye Tests Saves Lives’ signs across major highways during Road Safety Week (November 21-27).

It is supported by Reverend Brenda Gutberlet, whose niece Natalie Wade was killed 10 years ago by a partially sighted driver who had been told by medical professionals that his sight was too poor to continue driving.

She said: ‘Our whole family has to live with the consequences of a wholly avoidable collision. If the driver who killed Natalie had been declared medically unfit to drive and removed from the road, it would not have happened. Road crashes due to poor driver vision are estimated to cause 2,900 casualties in the UK per year – so potentially 29,000 people have been injured or killed since Natalie’s death, with no Government action to raise awareness of driver eye health.’