Bad vision, no licence: Driver eyesight rules to tighten for over-70s
The proposed changes are set to be published in the autumn as part of a new road safety strategy alongside other measures such as a reduction in drink-drive limits. They come months after a senior coroner declared the UK's current eyesight rules to be 'ineffective and unsafe'.
A Government source told The Times that, 'In no other circumstance would we accept 1,600 people dying, with thousands more seriously injured, costing the NHS more than £2 billion per year. Advertisement - Article continues below
'This Labour Government will deliver the first Road Safety Strategy in a decade, imposing tougher penalties on those breaking the law, protecting road users and restoring order to our roads'.
In April, HM Senior Coroner for Lancashire Dr James Adeley presented a report to the Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, showcasing what he described as evidence of the UK's current licensing regulations being the 'laxest in Europe'.
Adeley contacted the Department for Transport following an inquest in which four pedestrians were killed in three separate incidents after being hit by older drivers who had failed to report their decaying eyesight to the DVLA. Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below
'The current system for 'ensuring' drivers meet the visual legal standards is ineffective, unsafe and unfit to meet the needs of society,' Adeley said.
Such a view is echoed by road safety charity IAM RoadSmart, with its director of policy and standards, Nicholas Lyes, saying: 'While many drivers over the age of 70 are safe and competent, health issues and confidence can have an impact on driving abilities, so it is sensible to review whether changes need to be made.'
Auto Express recently investigated how poor eyesight can affect your ability to drive – particularly at night. The latest technology can now detail a more accurate eye prescription, providing what is described as 'the sharpest vision of all time'.
For now, however, this technology is not available en masse, with surveys by the RAC finding that the vast majority (85 per cent) of people think that headlight glare is getting worse and affecting their eyesight at night. The Government has since launched an investigation into headlight glare, its effects and how to reduce it – something that would go hand-in-hand with the latest eyesight test rules.
Now you can buy a car through our network of top dealers around the UK. Search for the latest deals…
Find a car with the experts Fire risk prompts 72,000-car Stellantis UK recall
Fire risk prompts 72,000-car Stellantis UK recall
28 models across Alfa Romeo, Citroen, DS, Fiat, Jeep, Lanica, Peugeot and Vauxhall are impacted by the recall Car Deal of the Day: rapid Audi S3 for a tempting £391 per month
Car Deal of the Day: rapid Audi S3 for a tempting £391 per month
The Audi S3 is a powerful but understated hot hatch that is great value right now. It's our Deal of the Day for August 8 New Cupra Leon Shadow Edition is a new moody version of the sporty hatch
New Cupra Leon Shadow Edition is a new moody version of the sporty hatch
The Leon Shadow Edition will be offered on both the hatchback and estate
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
19 minutes ago
- BBC News
Work to repair Salisbury's 'killer kerb' to begin
Work to repair a kerb which has reportedly been struck by multiple vehicles is to start next week, Wiltshire Council has 35cm (13in) 'trief' kerb in Fisherton Street, Salisbury, is designed to protect pedestrians by stopping vehicles mounting the Council said it would replace the section that has been damaged by vehicles striking it despite an audit not raising any concerns about the use of the kerb had been listed as a tourist attraction on Google Maps and has had multiple Facebook pages dedicated to it. Several residents told the BBC in July that the "killer kerb" was creating a "hubcap graveyard" Geddy Porter said he had fixed damage to cars which had hit the said repairs could cost thousands. "We've had a few customers who have done the same thing - all on the bottom edge of the cars," he said. In addition to repairing the kerb, the council said a bollard would also be installed at the corner of the footpath to stop drivers making the turn from South Western Road from striking repair work is due to take place from 18 to 26 August with temporary traffic lights installed during that Martin Smith said: "This is a key junction providing access to the railway station and city centre with approximately 11,000 vehicles passing under the Fisherton Street railway bridge each day."It is important that the infrastructure installed at this location supports pedestrian safety, especially with the recent opening of Fisherton Car Park for rail customers, which has increased footfall in the area."
Sky News
32 minutes ago
- Sky News
What does the data tell us about road traffic accidents?
Under "tougher" plans to tackle road deaths and injuries in England and Wales, the government has announced measures to make over-70s take compulsory eye tests every three years or lose their licence. But are they really needed? Drivers over the age of 70 already self-report their medical fitness to drive every three years, and British roads are safer now than they've ever been. In 2023, the latest year for which the Department for Transport has published data, the casualty rate on British roads fell to 398 per billion vehicle miles. It's the first time that figure has been under 400, and has halved since just 2006. In 1960, the casualty rate was 10 times higher than it is now. The total number of people killed on the UK's roads also reached a record low in 2023, other than the COVID-affected years of 2020 and 2021. There were 1,624 people killed in total, just under half of which were in cars. This figure has plateaued somewhat since 2010, however, after rapid improvements between 2006 and 2010. There was a similar plateau between 1994 and 2006 before the last significant piece of road safety legislation was introduced. The 2006 Road Safety Act introduced higher fines and more points for the most severe speeding offences, as well as greatly expanding the use of speed awareness courses. It was also the first year people could get points on their licence for using their phone. In the four years that followed, there was a 40% decrease in deaths among road users. In the 13 years since then, it's fallen just 12%. There had been a slight rise in deaths among older drivers for a few years between 2014 and 2019, but that has started to fall again now. There are now fewer deaths among over-70s compared with either the under-30s, people aged 30-49, or those between 50 and 69. In 2019, there were a similar number of deaths among people of each of these age cohorts. Academic studies have previously found that older people are also more likely to develop symptoms of depression, be admitted to care facilities, and even have a higher mortality rate, once they stop driving. The academics found that those links remained even after adjusting for other factors like baseline health and cognitive ability. Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: "It is certainly good for our eye health as we age to have a regular eye test - every two years the NHS advises - but this doesn't automatically mean that a compulsory eye test at age 70 is appropriate. People can develop eye problems at any age so why confine such an approach only to those aged 70 and not to younger drivers too? "From the data we have seen, there is no reason to suppose that eye problems lie behind a significant proportion of accidents. While there may be a case for introducing a regular mandatory eye test for drivers of all ages, it is not clear that this would have a big impact on the numbers of serious accidents involving older drivers." Are younger drivers a danger to themselves? Edmund King, president of the Automobile Association, said that the government's strategy is "much overdue", while pointing to the figures showing that the number of road deaths have plateaued since 2010. He said that making vision checks compulsory for older drivers was a "practical step that can make a real difference", but added that failing to introduce a six-month limit on new drivers transporting passengers of a similar age is "a major oversight". A limit like this has been active in parts of Australia since 2007. Research by road safety charity Brake says that, in the UK, around one in five drivers crash within a year of passing their test. The Department for Transport data also shows that younger people are also significantly more likely to die as passengers compared to people in other age groups. There has also been a suggestion that younger drivers are more likely to die as a result of not wearing seatbelts. More than a third of 17-29-year-olds who die on the roads didn't have their seatbelts on. But the same is true of 30-59 year olds. There is a significant difference between men and women however - 31% of men who died did so without wearing a seatbelt, compared with just 11% of women. That also means that 89% of women who died on the roads did so despite wearing a seatbelt, perhaps adding to evidence that suggests that seatbelts offer better protection to adult men. Drink driving Since 2014, Scotland has had a lower drink drive limit than the rest of the UK. The government's new proposals would reduce the drink-drive limit in England and Wales to the same level as in Scotland - 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, instead of the current level of 80mg of alcohol. For an average-sized man, that means they would be over the limit after one pint of beer, instead of after two. In diverging from the other nations in the UK, the new standards in Scotland aligned with most of Europe. It seems to have had some impact. The number of collisions involving drink drivers has fallen by more than 40% in Scotland since it was introduced, compared with 20% in England over the same time period, and 38% in Wales. The improvement is less pronounced when it comes to the most serious drink-driving road accidents, though. They are down just 7% since 2014. Where are the safest, and most dangerous, places to drive? The Isle of Wight has the highest current fatality rate, after accounting for how much driving people do. There were 18 deaths per billion vehicle miles on the island in 2023. Next was Blackpool, with 16. The central London boroughs of Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, and Lambeth were the only other local authorities with a rate higher than 10. At the other end of the scale, Stockport (Greater Manchester), Thurrock (Essex) and Nottingham each had fewer than one death per billion vehicle miles. When it comes to accidents that included not just deaths but also serious injuries, London has the worst record. Drivers in Westminster were most likely to end up in a serious collision, but the nine most dangerous local authorities in Great Britain were all London boroughs. Bradford completed the bottom 10. Bath and North East Somerset was the safest area, although three Welsh areas - Bridgend, Neath Port Talbot and Cardiff - joined South Gloucestershire in the top five. Scottish drivers were among the most likely to avoid being in crashes altogether. Eight of the 10 local authorities with the lowest overall collision rate were north of the border, although Rutland in the East Midlands had the lowest overall rate. The top 20 areas with the most collisions per mile driven were all in London. How does driving in the UK compare with other countries? The UK is one of the safest places to drive in Europe. Only Norway and Sweden had a lower rate of road deaths per head of population in 2023 than the UK's 25 deaths per million people. The figures in places like Italy, Greece and Portugal were more than twice as high. There aren't any directly comparable figures for 2023 for the US, but in 2022 their death rate from driving was five times as high as the UK, and 50% higher than the worst performing European country - Bulgaria. The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
Times
an hour ago
- Times
Scammers offering fake compensation for car loans
A planned compensation scheme for millions of people who were mis-sold car loans has been leapt upon by fraudsters, the City regulator has warned. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said scammers were calling people and offering 'fake compensation in exchange for personal details such as their name, address, date of birth and bank information'. Millions of consumers who bought cars with motor finance could be entitled to payouts of almost £950 after the regulator said this month that it would consult on creating a redress scheme that could cost lenders between £9 billion and £18 billion, a figure substantially lower than had been feared by the motor finance industry, but which would still represent one of the largest UK compensation exercises. The regulator noted that the redress scheme was not yet in place and that lenders were not contacting customers yet. It said that people receiving calls about compensation should hang up. In 2021 the FCA banned car dealers from adjusting the rate of interest they offered to buyers in return for higher commission from car finance firms. It had wanted to start a compensation scheme but put this on hold while cases brought by individuals went through the courts. Eventually the Court of Appeal backed consumers, prompting speculation that the industry was facing a bill of up to £40 billion. The Supreme Court overturned central elements of the earlier judgment, however, in a victory for the motor finance industry. The authority is consulting on a compensation scheme in the context of the Supreme Court judgment. The regulator's guidance that payouts are likely to be less than £950 per car finance loan and that they do not need to use a claims management company has been a blow to the claims industry, which had told people that claims could be in the order of £4,000. • The obscure firms behind frenzy in car loan claims Members of the House of Lords have urged the FCA to further reduce the scope of compensation by rethinking its plan for the redress scheme to cover loans written as far back as 2007. The House of Lords financial regulation committee has said that a 'more appropriate' timeframe for the scheme could align with a six-year deadline for claims to be brought before a civil court. Nisha Arora, director of special projects at the FCA, said: 'We're aware of scammers calling people and posing as car finance lenders, offering fake compensation and asking for personal details. There is no compensation scheme in place yet. If anyone receives a call like this, hang up immediately and do not share any information.'
