§ Sir B. Jannerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions have taken place to date for the infringement of the new provisons obliging persons with defective vision to drive motor vehicles only when wearing suitable corrective glasses; whether he is satisfied with the present directives given to the Metropolitan Police on this matter; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WoodhouseSeparate figures for this offence are not yet available, but they are being collected for the current year.
Metropolitan Police instructions are that a driver should be required to submit to an eyesight test if the police have reason to believe that he is driving a motor vehicle on a road while his eyesight is such that he is unable to read a motor car number plate at a distance of 25 yards in good daylight. This is in accordance with the appropriate provision of the Road Traffic Act 1962.