16/10/2025
We are getting a lot of patients coming in concerned about stories of changes to the rules about eye-sight for drivers for the over 70s. This has been caused by sensationalist headlines like the one I saw this morning "Drivers over 70 could have driving licences taken away in shake up". There is also a lot of fake news or "mis-information" about this on certain websites on the internet.
There is no need to panic. The required legal standard for driving is NOT changing. Currently all that is being proposed, for the first time in the UK, is a legal requirement to have had an eye examination by an optometrist before renewing your license over the age of 70.
I have to say, personally I think everyone should have to have an eye examination before renewing their license regardless of age and that is nothing to do with trying to drive up trade!! It is born out of the fact that as an optometrist with over 30 years experience, I do not believe that the current requirement is fit for purpose.
The current requirement was devised in a bygone age, so as to be easy for a driver to check for themselves and also for a policeman to be able to easily check, at the side of the road. For almost every other qualification I hold I have to undergo regular continuing education and re-accreditation to ensure I am fit to continue, yet for what is probably the most dangerous thing that most people do, there are no such checks.
Do you know what the legal eye-sight requirement is? DVLA's own research in 2021 showed that less than half of drivers knew what the requirement was. This is made worse by the fact that in other research most drivers who knew what the requirement was failed to correctly estimate the distance! If the majority of drivers don't know what the requirement is, and even less who can accurately judge the distance so as to check for themselves, how is the current system fit for purpose?
There was a small change in the legal requirement for driving in 2001 with the introduction of the new style number plate and their very slightly smaller letters and numbers. For a "new" style number plates such as AB123XYZ, the required standard is being able to read it at 20m. The reduced distance allowing for the slightly smaller characters. For the "older" type of plate such as A123XYZ, the distance remained 20.5m or 67' 3".
Did you also know that their is a visual field requirement for driving? Very few people do! The law assumes that a driver has full visual field until either they report to DVLA that they don't or they report a medical condition that is likely to effect their visual field. I regularly see in the glaucoma clinic, patients who have lost over half their visual field and they are not aware of it!!!
So, rest assured that the eye sight requirements for driving are NOT changing. All that is being introduced is the legal requirement to have an eye examination. The only drivers who may get their "license taken away" are those who cannot meet the existing standard and therefore are already driving illegally and should have surrendered their license already.
Sorry about the long post, but I hope it helps
