Everything you need to know about wearing glasses when driving….to avoid a fine, possible driving ban and even a prison sentence!

A proportion of the motorists that require glasses or contact lenses while driving are flouting rules that could see them land hefty punishments and penalties.

According to new research, one in eight drivers who require glasses are deciding to do without them.  This is of course, illegal and can see the offending motorist penalised with some hefty punishments.

Driving eyesight rules

You must wear glasses or contact lenses every time you drive if you need them to meet the ‘standards of vision for driving’.

You must tell DVLA if you’ve got any problem with your eyesight that affects both of your eyes, or the remaining eye if you only have one eye.

This doesn’t include being short or long sighted or colour blind. You also don’t need to say if you’ve had surgery to correct short sightedness and can meet the eyesight standards.

Standard of vision for driving

All drivers must be able to meet the eyesight standard for driving by reading a number plate from 20.5 metres which can be easily checked by the police at the roadside. A motorist who drives when unable to meet this standard is committing an offence and will have their licence revoked by the DVLA. Once revoked, a licence will not be returned until a driver can demonstrate that their eyesight meets the required standard.

You must also meet the minimum eyesight standard for driving by having a visual acuity of at least decimal 0.5 (6/12) measured on the Snellen scale (with glasses or contact lenses, if necessary) using both eyes together or, if you have sight in one eye only, in that eye.

You must also have an adequate field of vision – your optician can tell you about this and do a test.

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