Eyesight and Driving
Good eyesight is vital for safe driving
Drivers and riders of motorised vehicles will know that they are required to be able to read a standard number plate with symbols 79.4 mm (3inch) high and 57mm wide at a distance of 20.5 m (67 feet), or where a new style number plate is used with characters 50mm wide, at a distance of 20metres, using correcting lenses if required.
Drivers whose poor eyesight is uncorrected, have crashes, but it doesn’t always follow that their poor eyesight was the cause of the crash. Until about the age of 50 there is no proven link between poor eyesight and crashes. However, between the ages of 30 and 40 eyesight may start to deteriorate.
The general recommendation to have eyesight checked every year is sound and one, which everyone who uses the road should follow. Having an eyesight test will usually identify the majority of common eyesight conditions, and may also give clues about other less common diseases.
Even at relatively young ages, a range of eyesight conditions may exist which, if identified early enough, can be treated to stop or reduce the effects of long term deterioration.
Glaucoma and Cataract are perhaps the most well known conditions, but diabetes and other age-related diseases, if left unidentified and untreated, are known to affect vision seriously enough to prevent safe road use.
Unfortunately, some people who have been prescribed correcting lenses don’t use them when they’re driving (or riding). This not only puts themselves at greater risk, it also puts other more vulnerable road users at risk.
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RoSPA is a registered charity: Registered Charity No: 207823 Patron: Her Majesty the Queen RoSPA Head Office: Edgbaston Park, 353 Bristol Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B5 7ST, UK |
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