{"id":334875,"date":"2025-08-11T04:45:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T04:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/334875\/"},"modified":"2025-08-11T04:45:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T04:45:13","slug":"over-70s-face-driving-ban-for-failing-eye-tests-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/334875\/","title":{"rendered":"Over-70s face driving ban for failing eye tests"},"content":{"rendered":"

Motorists over 70 could be banned from the roads if they fail compulsory eye tests, as part of a radical shake-up of driving laws in England and Wales.<\/p>\n

The two countries’ drink-driving limit is also set to be tightened to be in line with Scotland’s, with penalty points to be introduced for passengers not wearing a seatbelt.<\/p>\n

The changes are expected to be included in a new road safety strategy set to be published by the government in the autumn, with ministers believing that the current safety messaging is not working.<\/p>\n

The move comes after an inquest into four deaths caused by drivers with failing eyesight saw a coroner call the UK’s licensing system the “laxest in Europe”.<\/p>\n

Plans currently being prepared by the transport secretary include a new requirement for the over-70s to take eye tests every three years when they renew their driving licence.<\/p>\n

Tests for conditions like dementia are also under consideration.<\/p>\n

“In no other circumstance would we accept 1,600 people dying, with thousands more seriously injured, costing the NHS more than \u00a32bn per year,” a government source told the BBC.<\/p>\n

“This Labour government will deliver the first Road Safety Strategy in a decade, imposing tougher penalties on those breaking the law, protecting road users and restoring order to our roads,” the source added.<\/p>\n

In April, HM Senior Coroner for Lancashire Dr James Adeley sent a report<\/a> to Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander to say action should be taken to prevent future deaths, after he found enforcement of visual legal standards for drivers was unsafe.<\/p>\n

According to his report, the UK is one of only three European countries to rely on self-reporting of visual conditions affecting the ability to drive.<\/p>\n

Following the inquest, a source close to the transport secretary told the BBC the government accepted that the rules “need to be reassessed”.<\/p>\n

Apart from eyesight concerns, the government is also looking into stricter rules for drink driving.<\/p>\n

Under the new plans, the drink-drive limit is expected to be tightened from 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath to 22 micrograms, which would match limits already set for Scotland.<\/p>\n

Other proposals under consideration could also see police allowed to rely on roadside saliva tests for evidence of drug-driving rather than blood tests, making it easier to prosecute suspects.<\/p>\n

There had been “a catastrophic rise<\/a>” in deaths caused solely by alcohol in England over the past four years, according to government figures from late last year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Motorists over 70 could be banned from the roads if they fail compulsory eye tests, as part of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":334876,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[748,393,4884,12,1144,712,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-334875","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-northern-ireland","13":"tag-scotland","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115008315299257554","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334875\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}