Driving License revoked

[andy campbell]

🙂🙂Newbie here.
I'm 55 and have been diabetic since the age of 7. I have just had my license revoked after my DVLA check up at Spec Savers, totally shell shocked. I'm self employed and need car to get to work and as I live out in the country this is proving very difficult.
I've had laser treatment to both eyes, last treatment was about 14 years ago and eyes have been OK since. Just so happens had my diabetic eye check up the week after revocation, explained to consultant what had happened, he checked my eyes and he said that there had been no change to my eyes since last visit 6 months ago.
So, I want to appeal this decision and have started to look at getting further tests carried out independent opticians, is this a non starter? Will letter/reports from consultants and GP help, (I've read that DVLA will not accept this kind of "argument"). Lots of arguments here, why can someone drive with one eye and not someone with reduced peripheral vision. When driving you do not look straight ahead, you are constantly looking around, looking left and right to check the road. I saw an optician Saturday past, I asked about "one eyed" drivers and asked how they manage, he said they turn their head to see what is coming!! So why can we not have the same
"treatment" when it comes to driving, it makes no sense.
What can be done?? Eye sight is perfect bar this small anomaly🙂

 

[grovesy]

Welcome.

 

[mikeyB]

Hi Andy, welcome to the forum.

This is a tricky situation, because the DVLA are quite strict when it comes to sight problems. There must have been some change that they were alerted to in that Specsavers report. That said, it's no use going to an independent optician, so don't bother with that. Nor will a GP report. If your consultant will supply you with a report saying in his view you are safe to drive, and has evidence to support that view, then send that to the DVLA with your letter of appeal. Even that may not work, because the DVLA have strict rules about the degree of peripheral vision lost, and if you exceed those, even a report from a consultant may not help. Don't use the argument about one eyed people, that is a completely different situation. One eyed people don't lose a significant amount of peripheral vision.

In the meantime, don't take the risk of driving because you will be driving without a licence, and without insurance.

Best of luck.

 

[Pumper_Sue]

Double check the field vision test machine is working correctly as the SS have had faulty machines in the past which resulted in a lot of people losing their licences for no reason what so ever.

 

[andy campbell]

Hi Andy, welcome to the forum.

This is a tricky situation, because the DVLA are quite strict when it comes to sight problems. There must have been some change that they were alerted to in that Specsavers report. That said, it's no use going to an independent optician, so don't bother with that. Nor will a GP report. If your consultant will supply you with a report saying in his view you are safe to drive, and has evidence to support that view, then send that to the DVLA with your letter of appeal. Even that may not work, because the DVLA have strict rules about the degree of peripheral vision lost, and if you exceed those, even a report from a consultant may not help. Don't use the argument about one eyed people, that is a completely different situation. One eyed people don't lose a significant amount of peripheral vision.

In the meantime, don't take the risk of driving because you will be driving without a licence, and without insurance.

Best of luck.

Mike, Thanks for your reply. Living the life of Miss Daisy at the moment, but do not understand why we cannot be compared to folks that have a good eye. Closing one eye surely halves your perfect peripheral vision or am I missing something here?

 

[trophywench]

No Andy it doesn't - because they still have perfect peripheral vision in the good eye - and if they didn't have it, wouldn't get a driving licence in the first place. People with only one eye actually adjust (ie their brains adjust) to monocular vision very well indeed after an initial period and especially if they were younger when they lost the eye.

Because your brain always uses binocular vision - you'd be stuffed driving cos you wouldn't be able to see kerbs and kids running out from behind parked cars to chase their ball, which you wouldn't have noticed in the first place either.

They HAVE checked to make 110% absolutely certain you don't have cataracts?

 

[mikeyB]

Having had cataracts, I can say they don't affect your peripheral vision, but do reduce visual acuity. As you say, TW, peripheral vision is pretty good with only one eye. You can test this by just covering one eye.

Andy, you say that the consultant said there was no change. Does that mean in visual acuity, or did he test visual fields as well? If he did, remember that he wasn't assessing your ability to drive, but simply assessing whether your vision was getting worse.

As I said, visual field defects are very precisely defined in the driving regulations. This is the law, and it is absolute - that is, there is no appeal other than on the grounds of faulty assessment, same as drink driving. Here is the link for you to have a look at them.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/visual-...um-standards-for-field-of-vision--all-drivers

 

[trophywench]

Having had one cataract removed and still owning the other one, I beg to differ Mike - I had REAL difficulty seeing sides of roads etc at night and needed to move my head to check in daylight. However having had that one done this time last year - and having received the all clear thereafter - so going for new glasses - my field test was a lot better than it had been for flippin years.

 

[Ralph-YK]

My mum has/had(? one's been done) cateracts in both eyes. (We're one of those that don't talk about things, so don't know about peripheral vision). She was told by optician she couldn't/shouldn't drive.
Came into the house and said "The optician has told me I can't drive"

 

[trophywench]

Well at the point where they are bad enough to affect periph vision and the person drives - that's the point you get told not to drive (I'd been avoiding it - twilight was the worst) and also the referral to the hospital to get them done. Then you have the op, then you go for the post op check up. Assuming the op went well, and the other eye is OK, that's the point when you can go back to doing whatever you did before. As I need glasses anyway notwithstanding the cataracts that was back to the optician for an up to date vision test, and new glasses to reflect my new eyesight.

Until I had got my new specs, and got used to wearing them - no WAY would I have driven a car. I couldn't wear my old glasses since I couldn't see properly through the lens in the operated eye and it felt like it was pulling my eye where it shouldn't really be going now, horrid, and so I decided it wasn't a good idea to do that. God my long distance vision was brilliant. LOL Just couldn't possibly read eg how many carbs were in anything LOL

Do they even test peripheral vision for anyone that doesn't drive?

 

[Ralph-YK]

Do they even test peripheral vision for anyone that doesn't drive?

Yep, me, lots of times. Before I was diagnosed diabetic.

 

[trophywench]

Been checking the medical eyesight rules generally and specifically for Ds.

I do not understand when they need you to be able to see this that and the other sideways etc binocularly, why they always test your peripheral vision MONocularly.

Anyone got any idea why?

 

[Austin Mini]

My friend only has one working eye. He never has a test like we have to every three years. Why?

 

[trophywench]

Sorry, what test do you have to have every three years? - my peripheral vision gets tested every time I have my eyes tested - ie annually.

His licence, same as yours and mine, my husbands, or daughters, their OHs and their kids, is only there if we can meet all the conditions of having one and just one of those things is meeting ALL the required visual conditions.

If he says he does and he doesn't - then his licence isn't valid which means he isn't legal to drive and also that he isn't insured. Sooo if he has an accident, and it is discovered he can't see sideways, then he's stuffed. However - many one-eyed people CAN see as well as I ever did before I needed glasses. Being completely adapted to monocular vision, is a prime requirement of any one eyed person getting a licence in the first place. (when I say 'one eyed' it isn't necessarily literal, can be just that you have no sight at all in the other. If you can see even just light and shade through the bad eye - you are treated as if you are completely binocular as far as licensing is required, BTW)

 

[andy campbell]

Re monocular vs binocular, surely the "peripheral" is halved? I may be simplifying this, but when I close one eye I don't see anything coming from that direction which goes against the concept of having full peripheral vision, am I missing something here.
The other thing about peripheral vision and DVLA eye tests is the fact that tests are carried out staring straight ahead where as in the real world we are constantly looking around assessing what is around us.

 

[trophywench]

The periph test is done to see what we can see, peripherally, whilst looking normally in front of us - the lights appear on all sorts of the parts of the screen up down and both sides - it doesn't and isn't intended to test what you can see when you actually LOOK in that direction - it is literally a glimpse 'at the corner of your eye' they want to know if we can see. Though admittedly, when the kid runs out from behind the parked artic - then we will look that way, for a split second whilst we assess what we need to do before the eyes swivel back to the road in double quick time having been momentarily distracted - if we have decent reaction times - and if we don't have them we shouldn't be driving anyway LOL

 

[andy campbell]

I understand what you say BUT this has no bearing on driving really has it?

 

[Ralph-YK]

The periph test is done to see what we can see, peripherally, whilst looking normally in front of us - the lights appear on all sorts of the parts of the screen up down and both sides - it doesn't and isn't intended to test what you can see when you actually LOOK in that direction - it is literally a glimpse 'at the corner of your eye' they want to know if we can see. Though admittedly, when the kid runs out from behind the parked artic - then we will look that way, for a split second whilst we assess what we need to do before ......

The movement having been picked up in our peripheral vision.

I understand what you say BUT this has no bearing on driving really has it?

That is exactly what is has to do with driving. Catching that kid, dog, other car, runaway caravan that is to the side and is moving.

Oh, and when you glance to the side, your peripheral vision is working forwards, catching the car that's started moving.

 

[andy campbell]

Me again, sorry but I disagree with your argument, as I said before I do not drive looking forward as per the eye test, the test is flawed as it does not mimic what happens in real life. Appreciate what you are saying regarding the child, dog etc but you are assessing the road, even people with "perfect" vision are caught out with the dog, child, car(?) or caravan .........

 

[Northerner]

Me again, sorry but I disagree with your argument, as I said before I do not drive looking forward as per the eye test, the test is flawed as it does not mimic what happens in real life. Appreciate what you are saying regarding the child, dog etc but you are assessing the road, even people with "perfect" vision are caught out with the dog, child, car(?) or caravan .........

At the end of the day Andy, you don't need to convince us, you need to convince the DVLA Might be worth contacting the Diabetes UK Helpline service to see what they say:

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/helpline