Overview

• Department for Transport data shows a six-year high in vision-related road injuries, with 252 injuries and six fatalities recorded in 2023.
• Under current UK licensing rules, drivers self-certify medical fitness at age 70 and every three years thereafter, with no mandatory vision tests required.
• A police-backed campaign found that up to 720,642 UK drivers may be operating vehicles with defective vision, based on roadside testing results.
• Senior coroner Dr James Adeley has called for mandatory eyesight testing after an inquest into four fatalities attributed to poor driver vision found enforcement standards 'ineffective and unsafe.'
• The government has acknowledged the need to reassess eyesight standards and will consider reforms as part of a road safety strategy set to be published by year-end.