Driving Blind - Is your eyesight up to scratch?

Written by Phil Bowker
Posted in Technical Articles

Driving Blind!! - You're driving home after a long, tiring day at work. It's getting dark, it's raining hard and the roads are jammed. Worse is to follow. You're diverted down an unfamiliar route, hundreds of motorists crammed into single lane traffic speeding to get home to their families. You strain to see past the headlights and brakelights ahead in the gloom. You seem to find yourself not spotting hazards till the last moment and having to brake late and harshly. It crosses your mind that you can't see at all well .... but then you dismiss it!

This is unfortunately all too familiar to many of the countries drivers. Some will be wearing glasses with an outdated prescription, some will have forgotten the glasses that they are legally obliged to wear, and some that have never had an eyesight test as they are unaware or don't care that their eyesight has deteriorated.

In Britain there are currently no legal checks on your eyesight once you pass your driving test. To pass you must be able to read a number plate at 20.5 metres in good light. If corrective lenses are needed to be able to do so then you are legally obliged to wear them when driving. From then on It is an offence and very dangerous to drive if your eyesight is not up to standard so opticians recommend an eyesight test every 2 years.

Make sure that your eyesight is good enough to drive safely. Your future, your familys, or an innocent motorists or pedestrians life could depend on it.