If you’ve ever read one of my op-eds on road safety and eyesight, you’ll know I have a very short shrift for drivers with uncorrected vision that cause accidents or fatalities. The sort of short shrift where I would support custodial prison sentences, even for old age pensioners, where their poor eyesight was found to be a significant factor in a fatal collision.
So it was good to see National Police Chiefs’ Councils’ Operation Dark Night initiative seeking to remind all drivers of the legal obligation to ensure they have roadworthy vision each time they get behind the wheel. Officers carried out roadside 20m number plate vision tests at every opportunity, including any traffic-related stops.
In a similar way to spot checks on motor insurance and vehicle roadworthiness, it would be nice for roadside vision checks to become commonplace. In conjunction with regular driving licence renewals for those over the age of 65, spot checks would surely provide enough of a deterrent to those who know they shouldn’t be driving, or told not to drive, either by an optometrist or a family member.
The powers available to police for an immediate request to the DVLA for licence revocation, through ‘Cassie’s Law’, have been in place for more than a decade, but being more proactive with that legislation should make the roads a safer place for drivers and pedestrians.
The car industry’s quest for brighter headlights in the name of safety has resulted in the counterproductive result of making it harder for many drivers to get behind the wheel in the hours of darkness.
Thankfully, the new government has committed to Department of Transport commissioned research on headlight glare at the TRL surface transport facility in Berkshire, which will hopefully lead to a level playing field when it comes to safety.
After that, a note of congratulations seems like a handbrake turn. Nonetheless, the whole team at Optician would like to congratulate former clinical editor Bill Harvey on his lifetime College of Optometrists fellowship.
