Lesley Cree supports Road Safety Week

November means it gets darker each night and many believe this change leads to an increase in road traffic accidents. This is thought to be due to people adjusting to driving in the dark, but also people not realising their eyesight has deteriorated.

Lesley Cree Opticians is supporting Road Safety Week in a bid to promote the importance of ensuring driver eyesight meets the required standards to drive legally in the UK.

Road Safety Week is the UK’s biggest road safety event, coordinated annually by Brake, the road safety charity. It was founded in 1997 and takes place between 19th-25th November as an annual event to raise awareness about road safety and promote steps that everyone can take to stop these needless deaths and injuries year-round.

Good eyesight is a basic requirement for safe driving and should be a leading factor in reducing the risk of collisions caused by a driver’s inability to recognise and react in time to a hazard or the behaviour of other road users.

In the UK, the law requires drivers to be able to read a car number from a minimum of 20 metres. For Lorry and Bus drivers, the minimum standard for vision is much higher.

Estimates from the Royal College of Optometrists suggests 2-3% of drivers have vision below the minimum standard.

Lesley Cree Opticians is in full support of “Brakes” campaign for the law on driver vision to be strengthened, to require drivers to prove to the DVLA they have had a recent, professional vision test when they take their driving test and be required to have regular tests during their driving life thereafter to prove their eyesight meets the minimum requirement.

Due to the fact eyesight can decay without noticing, Lesley Cree Opticians recommend having a professional eye test at least every two years, or straight away if a problem arises.

A professional eye test checks vision over distance, as well as other visual defects, including problems seeing things in the central or peripheral vision caused by;

• Cataracts
• Age Related Macular Degeneration
• Glaucoma
• Double Vision

Commenting, Lesley Cree, of Lesley Cree Opticians said “Road traffic accidents caused by poor eyesight is believed to be massively underreported, due to the difficulty in determining if eyesight was to blame. Some casualties are likely to occur because drivers are unaware they have a vision problem and have neither consulted with an optometrist or reported it to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). Untreated eye conditions can occur gradually over time and in extreme cases, someone can lose up to 40% of their vision without being aware they have a problem.”

In support for the event, Lesley Cree Opticians has decorated its shop front window to feature many of the obstructions that drivers should see when using the roads.

If you are concerned with your eyesight and want to have a consultation with your local optometrist, please visit the practice to make an appointment or call to speak to one of our staff members on 0115 933 2999.

Key facts

• Road crashes involving a driver with poor vision are estimated to cause 2,900 casualties and cost £33 million in the UK per year
• In the UK, about three quarters of adults are estimated to make use of corrective eyewear or have had laser eye surgery
• In 2011, 5,916 drivers had their licence revoked for failing to meet minimum eyesight standards
• Eyesight can decline gradually and unnoticed, with people losing up to 40% of their visual acuity without being aware of deterioration