§ Lord Mottistoneasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the present nature of the test to which the police may require drivers to submit if suspected of driving a motor vehicle with defective eyesight, and whether they have any information as to how often this requirement was made use of during the last year for which figures are available.
§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Elton)A police officer will require the driver, wearing no other means of sight correction than he wore at the time of driving, to read a car number plate at the prescribed distance in good daylight.
The particular statistics requested are not available, but in 1983 proceedings were initiated against 339 motorists for driving with defective eyesight. Fuller details are given in Table 5 of "Offences relating to Motor Vehicles, England and Wales, Supplementary Tables 1983", a copy of which is in the Library of the House.
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