Older drivers will be forced to take eye tests as part of a series of road safety reforms.
Motorists aged 70 and above can no longer self-report visual diseases to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) after coroners warned the system could be abused.
The crackdown could also see drivers slapped with penalty points if passengers are spotted not wearing seatbelts, while alcohol limits face being tightened further.
The reforms are the widest in scope since the Road Safety Act was passed under the Tony Blair government in 2006.
Some 1,633 people died in road traffic accidents in 2024 and more than 27,000 were seriously injured, which amounts to one casualty every 18 minutes.
Almost one in four (24 per cent) of drivers killed on Britain’s roads were aged 70 or older, motivating the most dramatic policy proposals in the set of reforms.
Twelve prevention of future deaths reports since 2019 have expressed significant concerns over the current system of self-reporting.
Just two other European countries rely on this method of identifying drivers with visual diseases.
Meanwhile, the drink-drive limit could be slashed from 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath to 22 micrograms, meaning even one pint could be risky for some drivers given that people process alcohol at varying speeds.
Around a quarter of car occupant deaths involve not wearing seatbelts but currently only passenger with a driving licence can receive penalty points.
The government is hoping these reforms can help it achieve its target of reducing deaths and serious injuries on Britain’s roads by 65 per cent by 2035.
Older drivers will be forced to take eye tests as part of a series of road safety reforms (stock image)
It comes after a leading coroner wrote to Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander (pictured) last summer to say that the UKs licensing rules were the ‘laxest’ in Europe
President of the Automobile Association (AA) Edmund King said: ‘A move to make eye tests for older drivers mandatory is obviously welcome, especially as the likelihood of crashes increases once someone is over the age of 70, and markedly shoots up over the age of 80 to a peak at age 86, with eyesight often a worrying factor.
‘Eye tests are free for people over the age of 60 anyway and healthcare professionals advise them every two years given they can help with diagnosis of other underlying conditions.’
It comes after a leading coroner wrote to Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander in the summer to say that the UKs licensing rules were the ‘laxest’ in Europe.
Dr James Adeley, senior coroner for Lancashire, issued a prevention of future deaths report after finding that four people had been killed by drivers with poor vision.
An inquest in Preston heard Mary Cunningham, 79, Grace Foulds, 85, Anne Ferguson, 75, and Peter Westwell, 80, had all died in traffic collisions where the driver had defective eyesight.
Dr Adeley stated in his report: ‘The four fatalities shared the same feature that the driver’s sight was well below the standard required to drive a car.’
Tests for visual ability to drive have not changed since the 1930s – with the threshold remaining being able to read a registration plate from 20 metres away – or around 66ft.
Audi driver Glyn Jones, 68, ploughed into friends Mrs Cunningham and Mrs Foulds as they crossed a road in Southport on November 30, 2021.
He was unable to see due to a condition called severe ‘bilateral keratoconus’ but he ignored medical advice that his eyesight was too poor.
Mrs Ferguson was killed by van driver Vernon Law, 72, who had been to an optician a month before the crash in Rochdale in July 2023 and was told he had cataracts in both eyes. Following her death, her husband took his own life.
Pedestrian Mr Westwell was also struck and killed by a Honda Jazz driven by Neil Pemberton, 81, in Langho on March 17, 2022.
Pemberton made no attempt to brake and was speeding at 48mph in 30mph zone.
The inquest heard Pemberton had a long history of severe bilateral eye disease and was twice warned he should not drive before he began to inform optometrists he was a non-driver. He repeatedly failed to self-report his condition.
In his prevention of future deaths notice, Dr Adeley told the Department of Transport (DfT): ‘In my opinion there is a risk that future deaths could occur unless action is taken.’
While motoring groups have largely backed the measures, Age UK has suggested the eye test rule discriminates against older motorists.
Caroline Abrahams, its charity director, told the Daily Mail: ‘It is certainly good for our eye health as we age to have a regular eye test – every two years the NHS advises – but this doesn’t automatically mean that a compulsory eye test at age 70 is appropriate.
‘People can develop eye problems at any age so why confine such an approach only to those aged 70 and not to younger drivers too?
‘A regular eye test for drivers of all ages may be a better idea, one less open to the accusation of ageism – but we would need to see all the evidence to form a final view.’
Abrahams added: ‘A further consideration is that the latest published official statistics on road accidents reveal an upward trend in the numbers of fatal or serious accidents involving older drivers, something that of course we should take seriously, but without more information it is difficult to say exactly why this is happening – the precondition for proposing effective solutions.
‘Certainly though, from the data we have seen there is no reason to suppose that eye problems lie behind a significant proportion of these accidents.
‘Therefore, while there may be a case for introducing a regular mandatory eye test for drivers of all ages, it is not clear that this would have a big impact on the numbers of serious accidents involving older drivers.’
