12-05-2025
Time for older drivers to have regular eye tests? Crash data suggests so...
Calls for older drivers to have their eyesight scrutinised more regularly are set to ramp up as road collision data shows injuries sustained in crashes in which poor vision was a contributing factor reached a six-year high.
Department for Transport statistics show 252 people were hurt in road collisions where below-par eyesight was reported in 2023 - the highest number since 2017 when 262 were injured.
Among the 252 instances were six deaths - two more than in 2017 - of which three were pedestrians.
And with the majority of injuries sustained by passengers in vehicles, it highlights that drivers with poor eyesight are posing grave danger to others as well as themselves.
The statistics come as ministers have hinted that a change to rules around eyesight checks for older motorists could be rung in as part of Labour's forthcoming road safety strategy.
Under current law, motorists over the age of 70 have to renew their driving licence every three years. This includes declaring they are medically fit to be behind the wheel without any tests.
The DfT's data reveals that 42 per cent of incidents involving drivers over 70 were due to sight problems.
The figures are expected to mount further pressure on transport ministers to update rules for older drivers to retain their licences, following years of campaigning for over 70s to face compulsory eye tests.
As it stands, senior drivers must apply for their licence every three years after turning 70.
This includes a declaration to confirm they are medically fit to remain on the road.
However, this entirely based on driver honesty and truthfulness, with no requirement to provide medical records or eyesight test results.
With concerns regarding older drivers' visibility, police forces across the country launched a nationwide campaign - this involved random checks of motorist eyesight at the roadside.
Some 3,010 individuals were pulled over and asked to replicate the practical test requirement for learners to read a vehicle's number plate from 20 metres - the only time any motorists are currently required to prove the quality of their vision.
In 50 instances, drivers were unable to read the characters on the registration plate.
Based on 1.7 per cent of the nation's 42million qualified motorist having poor eyesight, it means almost 720,650 drivers could be on the road despite not adhering to the legal minimum requirement.
The DfT's data reveals that 42% of crashes on the road resulting in injury that involved drivers over 70 was either partly or wholly due to eyesight issues
Speaking to The Times earlier this month, Edmund King, the president of the AA, said: 'Good eyesight is necessary for every driver, especially as we watch and use screens and expose our eyes to blue light.'
He added that as drivers get older, regular eye tests not only assure they are 'safe to be on the roads' but can also 'identify other potential medical problems'.
Some 5,967,076 of all licence-holding drivers in Britain in 2023 were over the age of 70 - a record high and 2 million more than a decade earlier (3,902,135 in 2012), an exclusive report by This is Money revealed two years ago.
DVLA figures also revealed that the number of people aged 80 or over with a full driving licence in 2023 had increased by 94,818 compared to the year previous - taking the total to 1,649,277, which represented around 4 per cent of all qualified motorists.
It's a similar story for over 90s, with numbers jumping by 93 per cent in a decade to 137,281 individuals in 2023, while there were 510 people at the ripe age of 100 and above legally listed as on the road that year.
In 2012, there were only 162 centurions with licences, meaning numbers had increased by 215 per cent in just over a decade.
UK's driver licensing system 'laxest in Europe'
MPs are already being pressed to clampdown on the number of ageing motorists currently on the road with poor eyesight in a bid to tackle flat-lining road casualty statistics.
With the number of killed and seriously injured each year not falling significantly since the early 2010s, road safety experts believe this is one area worth attention to trigger a decline.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander told the Commons Transport Select Committee last week that eyesight tests for older motorists is something she is 'open to considering' as part of the Government's forthcoming road safety strategy.
Earlier in April, the MP for Swindon South had received a prevention of future deaths report from HM Senior Coroner for Lancashire Dr James Adeley, which related to the deaths of four people killed by drivers with failing eyesight.
Ms Alexander said: 'I know that reading that report will be very distressing for the families of the victims who were killed.
'That, of course, was a situation where the optician had suggested to (four) individuals that they needed to advise the authorities that they had a medical condition which affected their eyesight and where they shouldn't be driving.
'And of course, that didn't happen. So I am open to considering the evidence on this issue.'
Dr Adeley described the UK's eyesight rules as part of the licensing system as 'the laxest in Europe'.
He wrote: 'Self-reporting of visual conditions permits drivers to lie about their current driving status to those performing an ophthalmic assessment and avoid warnings not to drive.
'Drivers may also admit they drive but then ignore instructions not to drive and fail to notify the DVLA.'
He made the remarks at the inquests in Preston of Marie Cunningham, 79, Grace Foulds, 85, Peter Westwell, 80, and Anne Ferguson, 75.
Asked when the road safety strategy will be released, Ms Alexander replied: 'We will be publishing the first new road safety strategy in 10 years, and we hope to publish that document later this year.'
