Fit to Drive

Eyesight is a crucial aspect of driving safety, yet we know that drivers are not
looking after their eyes and having regular eye tests. A fifth (21%) of drivers that we surveyed have struggled to read road signs, and when the findings were applied to
the total driving population, over five and a half million people with glasses or
contact lenses admitted to having driven without them.

As part of the Rethinking Risk Thought Leadership programme, RSA launched a campaign to find out if drivers really are ‘Fit to Drive’.

The biggest risk about eyesight and driving is that it is something of an unknown quantity. The truth is no-one really knows for certain how many people are ‘driving blind’.

Previous research into the impact of eyesight on driving and risk leaves a number of unanswered questions, and this is why RSA commissioned Brunel University to carry out an in-depth study to prove the effects of vision on driving safety and performance.

A panel of people with 20:20 vision were put through a thorough test in Brunel’s driving simulator. Each person was presented with a range of tasks and hazards over a seven mile route and various aspects of their driving performance recorded.

Key findings:

• When a driver’s vision was blurred they struggled to stay in lane, keep a consistent speed or read road signs. For example, at the legal minimum level to drive people strayed out of lane 62% more often than with normal vision and could only recognise three-quarters (77%) of the road signs they passed compared to normal vision.

• Visual acuity also has a significant impact on a driver’s mental workload. While this may be manageable over a short period of time, on longer journeys it could heighten the chance of fatigue and therefore increase accident risk.

• The study concluded that the current number plate test is not fit for purpose. It is not a sensitive method of measuring whether a driver’s eyesight meets the minimum standard laid down by law. In addition, as visual acuity is only part of the relationship between eyesight and accident risk, other aspects such as visual field should also be taken into account when assessing a driver’s vision.

Taken together, it is obvious that the current regime for testing drivers’ eyesight is woefully inadequate. If you get behind the wheel of a car with poor eyesight you are clearly not ‘Fit to Drive’. To combat this problem we need a more comprehensive assessment of a driver’s vision before they are given a provisional licence and we need to ensure that people are having regular eye examinations over their driving career because eyesight changes over time.