Villiers rejects criticism of number plate test

The government has dismissed arguments that drivers' vision testing in the UK is inadequate and says the current arrangements 'strike the right balance between road safety and personal mobility'.

At a debate at Westminster this week forced by Sheffield MP Meg Munn, minister of state for transport Theresa Villiers said the government was confident that the current system was working well and that the number plate test was 'an effective screening tool'.

Munn had been contacted by a constituent Joy Barnes whose niece, Fiona Buckley, died in a road accident caused by an elderly motorist with cataract and age-related macular degeneration driving with vision below the legal limit.