MP calls for tighter checks on driver eye test results

AN MP has called for medically unfit people to be prevented from driving following the tragic death of a pensioner.

- BY GEORGE LYTHGOE LOCAL DEMOCRACY REPORTER

Anne Ferguson was killed while crossing the street near her home on Market Street in Whitworth on July 11, 2023.

Vernon Law, whose van hit the 75-year-old, had such poor vision that he failed to read the top line of an eye test chart during a visit to Specsavers in Rochdale a month before the fatal collision, an inquest heard.

The 72-year-old, of Clough Road in Bacup, had been diagnosed with cataracts in both eyes a month prior but lied to an optometrist about being a driver and failed to disclose his sight issues on multiple DVLA licence applications, the inquest hearing at Preston County Hall was told.

Law later pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and was sentenced to four years in prison and banned from driving for life.