Comment : Roadside vision

With National Eye Week almost upon us it is heartening to see optics making it into the national press. The latest foray for optics into the pages of the newspapers was courtesy of the roadside tests carried out in South Wales (see News).

The initiative from the National Public Health Service for Wales used staff from the ophthalmology department of Newport’s Royal Gwent Hospital and South Wales Police to survey drivers heading into Abergavenny.

Despite commanding the kind of publicity the Eyecare Trust would kill for, there were some worrying aspects to the project. The first was the result of the research. In a stint which saw the testers assess the vision of 300 drivers, just five failed. Four of these did have glasses with them which they reportedly put on and subsequently passed the test. This hit rate of less than 2 per cent of drivers is completely at odds with the Royal National Institute of the Blind’s estimate that one in three drivers has poor eyesight which is putting other road users at danger.

Either the Welsh really know how to look after their eyesight, the team has stumbled upon an unrepresentative sample or the issue of inadequate drivers’ vision has been ‘overcooked’.

The second worrying factor is that in none of the many national and regional stories is there a reported link with high street opticians.

The National Public Health Service, the police, the ophthalmology department of the local health trust, the RNIB and even the RAC Foundation get in on the act but not opticians.

This is a fantastic initiative. It touches on public health, road safety and has won widespread media coverage. It speaks the people’s language with its advice to motorists to get their eyes an MoT. If it is to be repeated, as looks likely, opticians need to make sure they are involved.