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Having recently seen the European parliament put forward new recommendations regarding drivers eye sight and vision in regards to their ability to get behind the wheel, the British government is to begin a second round of consultations as they envisage fitness to drive rules and regulations to be addressed and amended by April 2012.
The European parliament has been eager to push through new mandatory eye sight tests every 10 years for motorists due to concerns that current methods of gauging a drivers vision is outdated and somewhat dangerous as there are no procedures in place to regularly check upon eye sight deterioration. This also coincided with investigations made by the insurance firm, Royal Sun Alliance, into whether stricter rules should be put in place to safeguard motorists, the public and of course the underwriters of such insurance policies.
The secondary round of consultations will begin in November, it is anticipated, with those from initial consultations being asked to continue in the process. The DVLA's senior medical advisor is however, keen to make sure that any new eye sight requirements for UK drivers are not more stringent than regulations in other European countries. A recent European Council of Optometry and Optics report found that currently, UK testing is a way behind many other European countries, with near neighbours EIRE already following much stricter guidelines.
Currently, self assessment is proving ineffective it would seem, with many people simply not visiting their GP or optician regarding their vision regularly enough to know about conditions they have or deterioration to their eye sight. With age being a fairly major factor in a drivers visual abilities over time, much of the focus regarding re-testing is on the elderly and their fitness to drive. It is of course, so as not to be discriminatory, being proposed that people of all ages, young and old, to undergo more routine checks as many other factors can play a part in the change of a persons eye health.