Police safety campaign to test drivers' eyesight

A police force has begun conducting roadside eye tests to raise awareness of the minimum eyesight standards when driving.

Norfolk Police said drivers can be fined, receive penalty points or disqualification if they fail an assessment.

All motorists are required by law to be able to read a car number plate from 20m (65ft) away, have 6/12 vision - when you can read something from 6m (20ft) away that a person with standard sight can read from 12m (40ft) away - as well as good central and field vision.

All tests in Norfolk are being carried out in daylight conditions, using a registration plate fixed to a vehicle 20m away, the force added.

In 2025 more than 1.2 million motorists were found to be driving with defective eyesight, according to the national road safety campaign group, Is Your Vision Roadworthy?

Norfolk Police said the results of its vision screening campaign would be included in the campaign group's annual survey, which will be used to inform future road safety policy and campaigns.

According to the campaign group's data, 18 people lost their lives and 3,000 were seriously injured on UK roads in 2025 due to motorists having defective eyesight

Under legislation known as Cassie's Law, drivers who fail a roadside number plate test can have their licence revoked.

Ch Insp Gary Miller said Norfolk Police will carry out the number plate reading test in various situations, including where a road incident has occurred, or if they have suspicions someone is driving erratically.

"Ninety per cent of the information a driver uses is visual," he added, "so we want to use the roadside screening to raise awareness of the fundamental importance of good eyesight."

Vision can decline gradually without a person realising, so motorists are advised to have sight tests every two years.

Miller said the data showed people over the age of 70 tend to have more eyesight deterioration.

Robert Conway, an optician in Norwich, said: "Very few [people] drive knowingly having poor eyesight."

He added his practice gives guidance on a patient's ability to drive, including "as to whether they're likely to meet the number plate standard".

"But we do say to them that in addition to the tests that we've done during the eye examination, they also have to go out and read the number plate themselves. So it's a two-way thing," said Conway.

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