Drivers will LOSE their licence if they fail cops’ 20-metre number plate roadside eye test
Drivers will be asked by cops to read a number plate from 20 metres
POLICE are to give roadside eye tests to drivers they pull over.
Thames Valley, Hampshire and West Midlands forces will ask them to read a number plate from 20 metres.
They will revoke the licences of those who fail.
The September crackdown is backed by safety charity Brake and optician Vision Express.
Both want a compulsory eye test when licences are renewed every ten years.
Sergeant Rob Heard, representing the police forces taking part in the campaign, said: “Not being able to see a hazard or react to a situation quickly enough can have catastrophic consequences.”
He warned that officers will be carrying out eyesight checks “at every opportunity”.
Officers can request an urgent revocation of a licence through the DVLA if they believe the safety of other road users will be put at risk if a driver remains on the road.
The power was introduced in 2013 under Cassie’s Law, named after 16-year-old Cassie McCord, who died when an 87-year-old man lost control of his vehicle in Colchester, Essex.
It later emerged he had failed a police eyesight test days earlier, but a legal loophole meant he was allowed to continue driving.
A 2012 study by insurance firm RSA estimated that poor vision caused 2,874 casualties in a year.
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