To facilitate travelling and working across borders, the European Union has progressively harmonised the systems and standards of driver licensing in member states. As has been reported in Part 1 of the Optician Driving Series (19.11.10), recent EU directives have set about standardising the medical requirements for driving, and these have already been implemented by most member states. For professional drivers (HGV and passenger transport) these directives have successfully introduced five-yearly testing of visual acuity and visual fields as part of licence renewal.
For other categories of driver, the European representative optical bodies (ECOO, Eurom I and Euromcontact) have long suspected that the visual assessments to obtain or renew a driving licence vary substantially between countries. A report commissioned by the bodies and released this month reviews this for Group 1 (car and motorcycle) drivers' vision across 26 European countries. The findings make interesting reading for those concerned with UK road safety.
An assessment of drivers' vision must be carried out prior to issuing a first full driving licence, under EU laws. The report finds a range of activities when assessing vision across the member states and this divergence has not closed with implementation of the updated EU legislation (Table 1).
Most countries assess at least visual acuity and visual fields before issuing a first driving licence, seen as best practice by the report. Some countries go further for example, in Austria and Spain a driver is required to have an eye examination by an ophthalmologist before obtaining his or her first licence.
Five countries in Europe, including the UK, France and the Netherlands, assess drivers' vision solely by reading a number plate from a set distance, which the report asserts is unacceptable and not compliant with the underlying European law. The report argues instead for visual acuity and visual fields testing as a minimum, performed by optical or medical professionals.
The report raises serious concerns that, in contrast to professional drivers, there is no requirement in EU law for assessment of the vision of Group 1 drivers when they renew their licence. This is despite the fact that taxi drivers, couriers, salespeople and long-distance commuters drive for a living, yet are classified as Group 1. Whether an oversight or deliberate omission by European legislators, the report finds markedly different approaches.
Best practice is found in Estonia, Italy, Latvia, Serbia, Spain, and Turkey, which require drivers' vision to be checked every 10 years, and then more frequently as drivers age. Twenty-one countries require at least one assessment of vision by a competent professional, with evidence submitted as part of licence renewal. By contrast, there is no requirement for a further assessment of vision for Group 1 in Austria, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden and the UK.
The report finds a range of fees paid by drivers to have their vision screened, mostly linked to the number and type of assessment required. Germany has the lowest fee to have visual acuity assessed (€6.43), set by the government. The highest fees reported were in Greece (€45 for visual acuity) and Hungary (€52), with these tests performed by an ophthalmologist.
The report concludes that while the EU intends to harmonise driving standards in Europe, there remains a wide range of systems in place to assess drivers' vision. This divergence has not reduced or closed with implementation of the 2009 directive. Moreover, there are signs that divergence in the standards of visual assessment for Group 1 is increasing.
While most states recognise the importance of good vision for safe driving and go above the basic requirements for car and motorcycle drivers, this good example is not followed by all. The UK is among the worst performers, by persisting with the licence plate test and requiring no further assessment.
The report recommends that European Commission and Parliament should be pressing the UK and other laggards to test drivers' vision properly. Should this approach fail, the report advocates an urgent review of the legislation to bring car and motorcycle drivers in line with their professional counterparts.
Mark Nevin, speaking on behalf of ECOO, said: 'This report provides a valuable insight into the variation in assessment of drivers' vision across Europe. The European Commission can and should declare the outdated 'licence plate test' an unacceptable assessment of visual acuity, and recommend that more countries adopt the best practice of 10-yearly assessments of vision, with shorter periods for those are risk of changing vision. These would be concrete steps to deliver change in the poorly performing countries such as the UK.' ?