Regular Eye Tests For Drivers Could Save Lives

Regular eye tests for drivers could cut the number of casualties on UK roads by almost 3,000.

Road safety charity Brake , together with the DVLA and insurer RSA, has begun a campaign calling on motorists to visit the opticians at least every two years.

Failing to make sure your vision meets legal standards for the road is an offence.

However motorists are usually only tested for this during their driving exam, where they have to be able to read a number plate 20 metres away.

Paul Carroll, director of professional services for Specsavers which is also involved in the campaign, said: "Taking responsibility for your sight is just as important as car insurance and MOTs."

A survey of 1,000 drivers found 26% have not had an eye test in the last two years. And 3% - the equivalent to more than one million UK drivers - have never had one.

It also discovered there were 9% of drivers who need glasses or lenses, but do not always wear them behind the wheel.

Brake deputy chief executive Julie Townsend said: "Being able to see properly is fundamental to being a good driver. Your eyesight can deteriorate rapidly without you noticing, and at the wheel that can be lethal."

Cassie McCord, 16, from Colchester, was killed when a car mounted a pavement and hit her in February 2011.

The 87-year-old man driving it had failed a police eye test just days earlier, but officers had not been able to persuade him to hand over his licence.

Cassie's mother Jackie told Sky News: "They spent two hours coercing him, trying to get him to surrender his licence voluntarily, but he refused. He got in the car three days later and killed Cassie."

Thanks to a subsequent campaign by Mrs McCord, known as "Cassie's Law", police can now get permission from the DVLA to remove a licence from someone with poor eyesight within minutes - a process that used to take days.

She is now turning her focus to getting drivers to take some personal responsibility and get a test.

"Don't be so silly. These are people's lives. it could be your child, your granddaughter, your grandson, your son or daughter that could be killed by someone who cannot see to drive properly," she added.

"It doesn't take five, 10 minutes of your time to go into an optician's and have a proper eyesight test. And that way you will know as an individual that you are capable and safe to be on the road."