Overview
- The Department for Transport is consulting on making eyesight checks compulsory every three years for motorists aged 70 and over at licence renewal.
- The strategy seeks a 65% reduction in deaths and serious injuries by 2035 and explores lowering the drink‑drive limit, minimum learning periods for learners, mandated safety tech, tougher drug‑driving enforcement, a ghost‑plate crackdown, and a new Road Safety Investigation Branch.
- Bereaved families back the plan but urge optometrist‑signed proof of vision close to renewal and routine sight tests every 10 years for all drivers.
- Advocacy groups question the evidence for choosing age 70 and warn testing capacity, costs and NHS backlogs could delay or derail implementation.
- Officials cite data that 24% of car drivers killed in 2024 were 70 or older, with recent inquests highlighting how self‑certification let visually unfit drivers keep their licences.