Bath residents and MP say NO to #Driving Blind

3 August 2018

Wera Hobhouse MP rallies Bath to support petition...

"I’m supporting the Driving Blind petition for statutory vision screening for drivers.  Bath and North East Somerset is the launch pad for an entirely new movement of people saying #Say NO to Driving blind, which I take great pride in.

On Friday July 27th I joined the #DrivingBlind campaign team, local supporters and road safety experts to take the campaign to the streets in order to rally petition support.

Shockingly, most UK drivers can pass their test without having a full examination to prove their eyes are roadworthy and drive for the rest of their lives unpoliced.

I am urging local residents to sign this petition to demand a political debate on this.

Few of us know that UK regulations for drivers’ eyesight are among the weakest in Europe and rely on self-regulation and reporting.

Yet all we have in the UK is a basic vision test by a non-medically qualified driving test centre employee and this only considers drivers’ ability to read a number plate at a distance of 20 metres. It ignores other essentials such as peripheral vision.

This means that there is no medical rigour to confirm that most drivers are visually fit to drive.  It means that cyclists, pedestrians and motorists who have regular eye-tests are sharing the road with people driving a ton of metal who’ve never given their eyes an MOT.

The World Health Organisation says poor eyesight a key risk factor in road crashes, and yet still, the UK is out of line with many other countries.

We have road safety and ophthalmic experts urging politicians to change the rules.  Now we need the public to join the movement and that starts with Saying NO to #Driving Blind on Twitter and Facebook via @DrivingBlindUK #DrivingBlind." - Wera Hobhouse