Over-70s face driving ban for failing eye tests

Motorists over 70 could be banned from the roads if they fail compulsory eye tests, as part of a radical shake-up of driving laws in England and Wales.

Plans also include reducing the drink-driving limit in both countries to be in line with Scotland’s laws, and introducing penalty points for passengers not wearing a seatbelt.

The move comes after an inquest into four deaths caused by drivers with failing eyesight saw a coroner call the UK’s licensing system the “laxest in Europe”.

The changes are expected to be included in a new road safety strategy set to be published by the government in the autumn, with ministers believing that the current safety messaging is not working.

“In no other circumstance would we accept 1,600 people dying, with thousands more seriously injured, costing the NHS more than £2bn per year,” a government source told the BBC, following a report in the Times.

“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,” the source added.

In April, HM Senior Coroner for Lancashire Dr James Adeley sent a report to Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander to say action should be taken to prevent future deaths, after he found enforcement of visual legal standards for drivers was unsafe.

According to his report, the UK is one of only three European countries to rely on self-reporting of visual conditions affecting the ability to drive.

Following the inquest, a source close to the transport secretary told the BBC the government accepted that the rules “need to be reassessed”.

Now, a new requirement for the over-70s to take eye tests every three years when they renew their driving licence is being prepared by the transport secretary.

But Edmund King, president of AA, defended drivers over the age of 70, saying they “are still relatively safe” – although acknowledged bringing in a compulsory eye test was “a small price to pay” for safety.

“When you look at road deaths the big peaks are with young, new drivers and then older drivers – although older drivers it does tend to be those over 80 and 85,” he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

Quoting statistics from road safety charity Brake, Mr King added that “one in five young drivers crash in their first year” and over “1,500 young drivers are killed or are seriously injured each year”.

Also under consideration by the government are tests for conditions like dementia, as are stricter rules for drink driving.

Under the new plans, the drink-drive limit is expected to be tightened from 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath to 22 micrograms, which would match limits already set for Scotland.

There had been “a catastrophic rise” in deaths caused solely by alcohol in England over the past four years, according to government figures from late last year.

Other proposals under consideration could also see police allowed to rely on roadside saliva tests for evidence of drug-driving rather than blood tests, making it easier to prosecute suspects.

Earlier this year, Coroner Dr Adeley criticised the current system for enforcing visual legal standards as “ineffective, unsafe and unfit” to meet the needs of society.

He made the remarks at the inquests of Marie Cunningham, 79, Grace Foulds, 85, Peter Westwell, 80, and Anne Ferguson, 75, at Preston Coroner’s Court.

Mrs Cunningham and Mrs Foulds were struck by Glyn Jones, 68 – who failed to report his insufficient eyesight to the DVLA – in his Audi A3 as they crossed the road in Southport, Merseyside, in November 2021.

Separately, Mr Westwell was hit by Neil Pemberton, 81 – who had a long history of eye disease – as he crossed the road in Langho, near Blackburn, in March 2022.

Mrs Ferguson died when she was struck by a van driven by Vernon Law, 72, in Whitworth, Rochdale, in July 2023. A month before Law was told he had cataracts in both eyes but he lied to an optometrist that he did not drive.

Current rules mean everyone aged over 70 must renew their driving licence, and update their photograph, every three years.

When you renew, the government says you must tell the DVLA if you have a problem with your eyesight that affects both of your eyes, or the remaining eye if you only have one eye – although this does not include being short-sighted, long-sighted or colour blind.