Overview
- Ministers have acknowledged calls for compulsory eye tests for drivers over 70, with officials saying the renewal-at-70 process remains unchanged and any overhaul would go to public consultation.
- Lancashire’s senior coroner, Dr James Adeley, urged action after deaths involving drivers with failing eyesight and criticized the UK’s reliance on self-reporting with no visual checks up to age 70.
- Recent figures cited by campaigners report 1,633 road deaths and nearly 30,000 people killed or seriously injured last year, with nearly six million drivers over 70 on UK roads.
- Optical Express has begun offering free advanced eye tests to over-70s this month at selected clinics, with diagnostics designed to spot conditions such as glaucoma and cataracts.
- GB News reports councils are hosting workshops for older motorists ahead of potential reforms that could introduce mandatory vision and medical assessments, with any proposals expected to face consultation before adoption.