RSA backs campaign to test drivers' eyesight

RSA is sponsoring a campaign to encourage drivers to get their eyes tested at least every two years.

The Sharpen Up campaign, run by road safety charity Brake, was launched today and also calls for a change in the law to make eyesight tests compulsory for new drivers and then at 10-year intervals.

As well as appealing directly to drivers, Brake will target commercial fleet operators to ensure their drivers have eye tests every two years and has called on opticians to pass information to the DVLA if a customer’s eye test reveals they are not safe to drive.

A survey of 1,000 drivers commissioned by Brake, RSA and Specsavers, released today, found that 26% of drivers have not had an eye test in the past two years, and 9% have not visited an optician for five years or longer. Some 3% of the drivers surveyed last visited an optician a decade ago and 3% – the equivalent of 1 million UK drivers – have never had an eye test.

Nearly one in 10 drivers who know they need glasses or contact lenses said they do not wear them for every journey.

More regular testing

RSA UK and Western Europe chief executive Adrian Brown said: “It’s no wonder so many people are not fit to drive when eye tests are not required by law at any point once you’ve passed your driving test. Far more regular testing will mean safer, more responsible drivers and will be good for people’s health in general, too.”

Last year, a report by the RSA estimated that poor driver vision causes 2,900 casualties and costs £33m a year.

It is estimated that up to five million UK drivers would fail a number-plate reading test if they had to take it again, but only 5,916 drivers had their licence revoked by the DVLA for failing to meet minimum eyesight standards in 2011.

Brake said this could be down to the DVLA relying on drivers or third parties to report vision defects and the fact that there is no routine testing of driver eyesight by police at the scene of an accident.