Brake Driver Eyesight Survey and Road Safety Report

Poor driver vision is estimated to cause $2,900$ casualties and cost $£33\,\text{million}$ in the UK per year.
Approximately $74\%$ of people in the UK use corrective measures like glasses, contact lenses, or laser surgery.
Common vision problems include long- or short-sightedness, and conditions like cataracts, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration.
Vision loss can be gradual, with individuals losing up to $40\%$ of their vision before noticing the impairment.

Adherence to Vision Aids: Of drivers requiring glasses or lenses, $12\%$ admitted to driving without them in the past $12$ months.
Testing Frequency: $25\%$ of drivers have not had a vision test in the past $2$ years. Additionally, $4\%$ of UK drivers (approx. $1.5\,\text{million}$ ) have never had an eye test.
Recognized Problems: $19\%$ of drivers have delayed visiting an optician after noticing vision issues due to concerns over cost, time, or the potential loss of their driving license.
Public Opinion:
- $67\%$ support requiring proof of a recent eyesight test for new driving candidates.
- $87\%$ support providing evidence of a recent sight test when renewing a driving license photocard.
- $94\%$ believe healthcare professionals should be obliged to inform patients if they fall below legal driving standards.
- $76\%$ believe GPs and opticians should be required to inform the DVLA directly if a patient's vision is unsafe.

Natalie Wade: Killed in Essex in $2006$ by a $78$ -year-old driver (John Thorpe) who was blind in one eye and had $40$ defects in the other. He had not declared these issues to the DVLA. Her family campaigns for fitness-to-drive honesty.
Cassie McCord: Killed in $2011$ by an $87$ -year-old driver (Colin Horsfall) who had failed a police roadside number plate test three days prior but refused to surrender his license. Her death led to Cassie's Law, which allows for faster police reporting of defective eyesight to the DVLA.

Standard Drivers:
- Must be able to read a car number plate (made after 1 September 2001) from a distance of $20\,m$ .
- Visual acuity must be at least $6/12$ ( $0.5$ ) on the Snellen scale.
- Horizontal visual field must be at least $120^\circ$ .
Bus and Lorry Drivers:
- Must have vision of at least $6/7.5$ ( $0.8$ ) in the best eye and $6/60$ ( $0.1$ ) in the other.
- Corrective power for glasses must not exceed $+8$ dioptres.
- Horizontal visual field must be at least $160^\circ$ , with no defects in the central $30^\circ$ .
Reporting: Drivers must inform the DVLA of certain medical conditions like glaucoma or cataracts.

Brake's Advice: Drivers should get a professional eye test at least every $2$ years. The number plate test is useful for distance vision but does not detect visual field defects.
Funding: Eye tests are free in Scotland for all residents; in the rest of the UK, they are free for specific groups (e.g., those over $60$ or under $16$ ). Under the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992, employers may be required to pay for tests for staff using computers.
Policy Calls: Brake advocates for compulsory eyesight tests for provisional license applicants and at every $10\text{-year}$ license renewal, which is estimated to save $£6.7\,\text{million}$ per year by preventing crashes.