Labour to tighten sight rules for over-70s

Failing an eyesight test when over 70 could cost you your driving licence

- Tom Jervis [e-mail]

DRIVERS aged over 70 could face losing their licence if they fail their triennial eyesight test, under new rules to reduce the number of fatalities on UK roads.

The proposed changes are set to be published in the autumn as part of a new road safety strategy alongside other measures such as a reduction in drink-drive limits. They come months after a senior coroner declared the UK’s current eyesight rules to be “ineffective and unsafe”.

A Government source told The Times: “In no other circumstance would we accept 1,600 people dying, with thousands more seriously injured, costing the NHS more than £2 billion per year.