Does your eyesight affect your ability to drive?
Cassie McCord, 16, died two years ago after she was hit by an 87-year-old man, who was told by police three days ago that he was medically unfit to drive. The death sparked a campaign spearheaded by Cassie’s family urging the government to review the current procedure involving the withdrawal of a driver’s license.
Three days before the incident, the 86-year-old man attempted to walk into a gas station exit, prompting an investigation by local police. Here, the 86-year-old man failed a police vision test and was therefore told that he is medically unfit to drive and that his license will be revoked in a few days. However, this did not stop the 86-year-old from driving, which sadly, three days later, resulted in the death of a 16-year-old girl.
The current procedure is for the police to apply by post for a license to be withdrawn. Unfortunately, the DVLA did not receive the application in time before they could legally withdraw the 86 year old license. At the moment, the police do not have the legal power to issue a driver’s license.
Cassie’s family collected over 45,000 signatures that were submitted to the Department of Transportation for an urgent review of the current law. The new procedure, dubbed ‘Cassie’s Law’, allows police to email the DVLA their requests, enabling them to withdraw a license within hours.
Cassie’s mother, Mrs McCord from Colchester, said: ‘I trust this is a very good solution. The fact that the Department for Transport has listened to someone like me who has no electricity is amazing. It will be two years since Cassie died. The timing couldn’t be better.”
Drivers who now continue to drive after having their license revoked face a fine of up to £5,000 or a possible prison sentence of six months.
A spokesman for the Department for Transport said: “We have every sympathy for Ms McCord and would like to thank her for her valuable work in raising awareness of this issue. The DVLA and the police have worked closely together to greatly expedite the process of revocation of a license. when police identify a driver’s vision as inadequate. The decision to revoke a driver’s license for medical reasons remains with the DVLA, although the process for informing drivers that their license has been revoked has now been expedited.”
