MyVisionTest News Archive
Nov 21, 2008
Florida drivers vision test results in fewer auto accidents
A Florida vision screening law targeting older drivers appears to be associated with a decrease in death rates despite little existing evidence linking vision and car crashes.
A report in this month's issue of Archives of Ophthalmology highlights the January 2004 law requiring all drivers 80 years and older to pass a vision test before renewing their driver's licenses.
The researchers used National Traffic Safety Administration and U.S. Census Bureau information to study rates of motor vehicle collision deaths among all drivers and older drivers in Florida between 2001 and 2006. They also compared those rates to those in the neighboring states of Alabama and Georgia, where the vision screening requirements remained unchanged.
While overall death rates from vehicle crashes in Florida increased by 6 percent between 2001 and 2006, the rate for drivers age 80 and older showed a 17 percent decrease.
Several potential reasons exist for the decline in Florida, according to the report's authors. "Perhaps the most apparent reason is that the screening law removed visually impaired drivers from the road," the authors wrote. "However, in reality, the situation is significantly more complex."
About 93 percent of individuals who sought a license renewal were able to obtain one, suggesting that only a small percentage of drivers were removed from the road for failing to meet the vision standards.
Another possibility is that the vision screening requirement caused many of those who did not pass the test on the first try to seek vision care and return with improved vision, the report says.
The authors also suggest that those older drivers with poor vision may have been discouraged from renewing their license at all, voluntarily removing themselves from the road.
Read more...
Arch Ophthalmol. 2008;126:1544-7
Tags: low vision, vision test, traffic safety, automobile
A Florida vision screening law targeting older drivers appears to be associated with a decrease in death rates despite little existing evidence linking vision and car crashes.A report in this month's issue of Archives of Ophthalmology highlights the January 2004 law requiring all drivers 80 years and older to pass a vision test before renewing their driver's licenses.
While overall death rates from vehicle crashes in Florida increased by 6 percent between 2001 and 2006, the rate for drivers age 80 and older showed a 17 percent decrease.
Several potential reasons exist for the decline in Florida, according to the report's authors. "Perhaps the most apparent reason is that the screening law removed visually impaired drivers from the road," the authors wrote. "However, in reality, the situation is significantly more complex."
About 93 percent of individuals who sought a license renewal were able to obtain one, suggesting that only a small percentage of drivers were removed from the road for failing to meet the vision standards.
Another possibility is that the vision screening requirement caused many of those who did not pass the test on the first try to seek vision care and return with improved vision, the report says.
The authors also suggest that those older drivers with poor vision may have been discouraged from renewing their license at all, voluntarily removing themselves from the road.
Read more...
Arch Ophthalmol. 2008;126:1544-7
