Drivers over 70 might soon have to pass compulsory eye tests every three years or risk being banned from the road, under major new safety proposals for England and Wales.
The plans are part of a wider crackdown that could also see the drink-driving limit lowered to match Scotland’s tougher rules, penalty points for passengers who don’t wear seatbelts, and easier roadside drug-driving prosecutions using saliva tests.
The changes follow a coroner’s warning that the UK’s driver eyesight rules are the “laxest in Europe” after four people were killed by motorists with poor vision. Currently, older drivers just have to self-report eyesight problems, something many simply don’t do.
The government says the new Road Safety Strategy, expected this autumn, will bring the first major overhaul in 10 years. A government source told the BBC: "In no other circumstance would we accept 1,600 people dying, with thousands more seriously injured, costing the NHS more than £2bn per year."
"This Labour government will deliver the first Road Safety Strategy in a decade, imposing tougher penalties on those breaking the law, protecting road users and restoring order to our roads."
Why now?
Inquests revealed tragic cases where older drivers, some told they had cataracts or other eye conditions, continued driving without telling the DVLA. The result was fatal crashes.
The eye test rule If introduced, over-70s will need an official eye check every time they renew their licence, currently every three years. AA president Edmund King says most over-70s are safe drivers, but admits this is “a small price to pay” for safety.
Lower drink-drive limit
The legal limit could drop from 35 to 22 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath, meaning one drink could put you over. The government says alcohol-related road deaths have risen catastrophically in the last four years.
Young drivers not off the hook
While ministers aren’t introducing graduated licences, which limit new drivers’ freedoms, statistics show one in five young drivers crash in their first year, and over 1,500 are killed or seriously injured annually.
Right now, the proposals are still under consultation but if approved, they would mark the biggest change to UK driving laws in decades.
