Should drivers over 70 take an eye test every three years? Yahoo readers have their say

The government has no plans to change eyesight requirements for driving, but what do Yahoo readers think?

James Cheng-Morris
·Freelance news writer, Yahoo UK
·3-min read

Yahoo UK's poll of the week lets you vote and indicate your strength of feeling on one of the week's hot topics. After the poll closes, we'll publish and analyse the results each Friday, giving readers the chance to see how polarising a topic has become and if their view chimes with other Yahoo UK readers.

Portsmouth, England, UK. 29 August 2023. Woman motorist holding steering in a luxury car, checking the rear view mirror.
A majority of Yahoo News UK readers think motorists over 70 should be made to have eye tests every three years. (Alamy)

Calls are being made for stricter eyesight requirements for driving licences, including mandatory eye tests for older drivers.

Adam Sampson, the head of the UK's Association of Optometrists, said over-70s should have to report their eyesight to authorities every three years to reduce the risk of accidents.

ADVERTISEMENT

“That’s just because that’s the age when people’s eyesight commonly starts to deteriorate markedly,” he told the Telegraph.

“Then you’ve got to do it every three years. All you’d have to do is pop along to your opticians, get a sight test and get a certificate and bung it off to the DVLA."

Current rules require people aged 70 and over to renew their licence every three years, but this does not include eyesight requirements.

When approached by Yahoo News UK, the Department for Transport said: “The NHS recommends adults should have their eyes tested every two years, and while we do not have plans to change eyesight requirements for driving, we continue to explore ways to improve road safety.”

We asked readers if drivers over 70 should be made to take an eye test every three years. Here are the results:

(Yahoo News UK)
(Yahoo News UK)

It received 2,002 votes and showed 65% of Yahoo readers agree with Sampson.

ADVERTISEMENT

Some 1,284 voters said they were for compulsory tests, with 594 saying they were against and 101 not leaning either way.

Two-thirds of Yahoo readers think motorists over the age of 70 should be made to have an eye test every three years

Readers were also asked to rate the idea of mandatory eyesight certificates for drivers over 70.

(Yahoo News UK)
(Yahoo News UK)

This poll received 937 votes with the most common vote being 10, with 410 selections, showing almost half of readers feel very strongly about it.

The average strength-of-feeling score on all the votes was 7.05.

45% of readers chose 10/10 when asked to rate the idea of compulsory eyesight certificates for over-70s

'Not just over-70s': I believe they should have eye tests and refresher driving tests. [But] this is not only for the over-70s, I believe all drivers irrespective of age should be regularly checked throughout [their] driving lives. (Margot A, Lancashire)

'Discrimination': Should the discrimination of the elderly continue with eye testing? Can we have mandatory drug tests carried out on every driver within the three-year time scale?" (Billy H, Ayr)

'What parameters would be used?': Provided the eyesight test reflects accurately the ability to see well enough to DRIVE, that's fine. However, as a 76-year-old who increasingly has to use a magnifying glass for small print, but who still has excellent outdoor and distance vision, I am apprehensive about what sort of parameters they might set. (Roger S, Canterbury)

Read more of Yahoo UK's Poll of the Week articles

Latest stories

  • The everyday ingredient to add to butter to stop it ruining your frying pan

    This may change the way you cook breakfast on a Sunday morning

  • Sainsbury's makes major announcement affecting all shoppers and staff

    The supermarket has made the shock announcement affecting its workforce and customers

  • Kremlin, asked about Raiffeisen assets, says unfriendly actions must have consequences

    The Kremlin said on Thursday that unfriendly actions against Russia must have consequences, when asked whether Austrian bank Raiffeisen's assets were vulnerable after a Russian court ordered it to pay 2 billion euros ($2.08 billion) in damages. Monday's court order, over a collapsed deal, underscored the perils of doing business in Russia for Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), the largest Western bank still operating there. Russia's central bank in September warned subsidiaries of Western banks that remain in Russia not to yield to pressure from Western regulators and discriminate against their Russian clients by denying them services, such as money transfers abroad.

  • ‘Survive 2025’: Small businesses scramble to avoid collapse under Labour

    When a group of pub owners went on a skiing trip to Mayrhofen in Austria earlier this month, the holiday chat didn’t centre on the slopes or the schnapps but on the headaches back home. Rachel Reeves’s £25bn National Insurance raid on employers has triggered so much anxiety that even the adrenaline of speeding down the Austrian alps on skis couldn’t distract them.

  • Russia's railways grapple with Asia pivot, sanctions and labour shortages

    Russian Railways' cargo volumes slumped to a 15-year low in 2024, with labour and locomotive shortages exacerbating capacity woes as Moscow redirects trade flows to Asia from Europe while fighting on in Ukraine, data showed and six sources said. Industrial output and railway cargo volumes usually go hand in hand. President Vladimir Putin has grown increasingly concerned about distortions in Russia's wartime economy, Reuters reported on Thursday.

  • Joe Biden's parting gift to Elon Musk: 2 11th-hour filings that bolster the tech big's beef with Sam Altman, Microsoft

    WIth one foot out the White House door, the Biden administration issued 2 documents Musk is now using in his battle to break up OpenAI and Microsoft.

  • JPMorgan Chase workers grouse over measly bonuses, 2% pay bumps as bank reels in record $58.5 billion in profits

    Some JPMorgan Chase workers want to leave after getting low raises and bonuses.

  • France asks EU to delay rights, environment business rules

    France on Friday asked the European Union to suspend "indefinitely" landmark new rules on environmental and human rights supply chain standards, saying they were too burdensome for businesses.Under what is known as the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), large companies are required to identify and address the "adverse human rights and environmental impacts" of their supply chains worldwide.

  • How much will I lose if I take my pension at 55?

    Thanks to the 2015 “pension freedoms” reforms, people can now access their retirement savings more flexibly. It’s opened up a variety of options, including taking an entire pot in cash.

  • Exodus of ‘shop rats’ sends plane-makers into tailspin

    Aircraft manufacturers should be riding high thanks to a travel boom that has created unprecedented levels of demand.

  • Market Place toilets temporarily closed and 'out of service' due to technical issue

    The toilets on Market Place have recently been talked about a lot after the council decided to announce their closure.

  • Morrisons staff facing redundancies with plans to cut more than 200 roles

    Morrisons staff are facing redundancy, with plans to cut more than 200 roles.

  • UK's Sainsbury's to cut over 3,000 jobs to counter 'challenging cost environment'

    British supermarket group Sainsbury's said on Thursday it was proposing to reduce its headcount by over 3,000 roles as it seeks savings to counter a "particularly challenging cost environment". The group, which with a UK grocery market share of 16% trails only Tesco, said a head office reorganisation would see a 20% reduction in senior management roles. Sainsbury's said in November that the rise in employer National Insurance contributions alone would cost it an additional 140 million pounds ($172 million) a year.

  • Retail giant outlines plans for huge new HQ next to major motorway to 'rival Facebook, Google and Nike'

    JD Sports have updated plans for a huge campus for 3,000 workers they say will rival 'Facebook, Google and Nike'

  • HSBC's payments app closure puts around 400 jobs at risk, source says

    LONDON (Reuters) -HSBC's decision to shutter international payments app Zing is likely to trigger around 400 job losses, a source familiar with the matter said, as CEO Georges Elhedery steps up cost-cutting efforts at Europe's largest bank. The staff at risk of redundancy will be informed from Thursday, according to the source, who said the approximate 400 figure included a substantial number of non-HSBC external customer support staff. "Following a strategic review of Zing within the HSBC Group and after careful consideration, we have made the decision to close Zing and integrate its underlying technology platform into HSBC," a spokesperson for the bank said in a statement.

  • Analysis-Britain appeals to Big Tech with change of regulatory guard

    Britain's choice of a former Amazon executive to chair its antitrust regulator is a clear pitch for investment, including from Big Tech, and signals it is prepared to go easier on deal-making if that would help, company bosses and lawyers said. Doug Gurr, former boss of the U.S. online retailer's UK operation, was picked to chair the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) after Marcus Bokkerink recognised "it was time to move on", finance minister Rachel Reeves said on Wednesday. With the economy struggling and pressure building on the government to improve living standards, Reeves wants regulators to change, believing they have become too risk-averse and are preventing companies from innovating and expanding.

  • US oil and gas rig count falls to lowest since Dec 2021, Baker Hughes says

    U.S. energy firms this week cut the number of oil and natural gas rigs operating for a third week in a row to the lowest since December 2021, energy services firm Baker Hughes said in its closely followed report on Friday. The oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, fell by four to 576 in the week to Jan. 24. Baker Hughes said this week's decline puts the total rig count down 45, or 7% below this time last year.

  • 3 UK Stocks That May Be Trading At Discounts Of Up To 49.9%

    The United Kingdom's FTSE 100 index recently experienced a downturn, influenced by weak trade data from China and declining commodity prices, highlighting the interconnectedness of global economies. In such a market environment, identifying stocks that may be trading at discounts can present opportunities for investors seeking value amidst broader economic challenges.

  • Philippine official 'positive' on trade with China despite political friction

    A trade official from the Philippines has expressed openness to more cooperation with China even as the two countries appear perpetually at odds over a number of tense geopolitical issues - not least of which a heated sovereignty dispute in the South China Sea. In contrast to some Southeast Asian countries - who are shying away from transit shipments of Chinese goods to the US for fear of tariff retribution from its recently inaugurated president, Donald Trump - the Philippines remains amenable

  • 'My Boss Keeps 95% Of The Profit While I Do All The Work,' An Employee Says, Asking, 'Should I Undermine Them And Start My Own Company?'

    Are you working tirelessly to keep a business running, managing operations, building client relationships and essentially doing the job of a CEO – only to find out that you're earning just a fraction of what the company makes? That's exactly the situation one Reddit user shared recently, sparking a heated debate about ethics, business loyalty and the pursuit of personal success. The poster explained that their boss bought the business after her husband passed away. She hired them to help run it,