Does your eyesight affect your driving ability?
Cassie McCord, 16, died two years ago after she was struck 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 led 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 tried to walk into the exit of a gas station, prompting the local police to submit to an investigation. Here, the 86-year-old man failed a police vision test and was therefore told that he is not medically fit to drive and his license will be withdrawn in a few days.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 request the withdrawal of a license by mail. Unfortunately, the DVLA did not receive the application in time before they could legally withdraw the 86-year-old’s 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 which were turned over to the Department of Transportation for an urgent review of current law. The new procedure, dubbed ‘Cassie’s Law’, allows police to email the DVLA their requests, allowing them to withdraw a license within hours.
Cassie’s mother, Mrs McCord of Colchester, said: “I am confident this is a very good solution. The fact that the Department for Transport has listened to someone like me who does not have electricity is amazing. Next week It will be two years since Cassie died. The timing couldn’t be better.”
Drivers who now continue to drive after their license has been withdrawn face a fine of up to £5000 or a possible six-month jail sentence.
A spokesperson 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 the police identify that a driver’s vision is inadequate. The decision to revoke a driver’s license on medical grounds remains with the DVLA, although the process for informing drivers that their license has been revoked has now been expedited.”