Keir Starmer and Labour look set to raid the wallets of pensioners across the UK in their latest act of desperate daylight robbery. Officials are currently consulting on stricter mandatory eyesight rules, which could see over-70s forced to have a vision check to keep their licence and stay on the roads.
The new rules are set to boost road safety, with over-70s involved in around one in four driver fatalities across the UK. Up until now, many believed road users would rely on free NHS eyesight tests already offered to those over 60, but that may no longer be the case as details on the latest cash-grab come to light.
According to the Department for Transport’s (DfT) consultation, officials are now only “potentially” considering the free checks, with pensioners instead likely needing to dip into their savings to keep their freedoms. The Government has now shockingly revealed that NHS eyesight tests only contain one element of the vision standards for driving.
Instead, chiefs could develop a bespoke test to assess whether road users meet the required vision standards for driving. During the consultation, officials stated that requiring drivers to pay for an eye test has not yet been ruled out.
This needs to stop, and now. The Government can’t introduce new rules on “road safety” grounds and then demand that those most vulnerable in society put their hands in their pockets. A recent report from Age UK found pensioners were “still struggling” with the cost of living crisis, explaining that older disabled people and those living on low incomes were among the most affected.
Next, the industry has openly admitted that conducting checks for everyone over 70 wouldn't strain the system.
Dr Peter Hampson, optometrist and clinical and policy director, Association of Optometrists, told Express.co.uk that there were generally not “long waits for appointments” with no "capacity challenges”.
He stressed experts had “long called for mandatory vision checks” and claimed the industry was “well placed” to deal with further checks with 7,000 centres across the country.
Dr Hampson added that optometrists were already seeing many older patients specifically because of the free NHS sight checks. A new AutoExpress poll of 714 drivers found that the majority overwhelmingly support the introduction of new eye-test checks.
A whopping 72% of respondents said they were in favour of exams for older drivers (70 years or over) every three years. How many would think the same if they knew exactly what price pensioners would have to pay to stay behind the wheel? Enough is enough. If Labour wants to introduce stricter eyesight rules, it has to pay for it itself.
