One in four Spanish drivers can't see properly

SPAIN (Agencies) A study by the Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña (UPC), with the cooperation of the RACC (Spain's AA) and the Visión y Vida Association ('Vision and Life') concludes that one in four drivers in Spain - about six million - has at least one problem that seriously affects their sight and therefore their driving. The study, carried out on 1,000 drivers between May and September last year, looked at six visual factors as related to driving ability: visual acuity, binocular field of vision, dazzlement, chromatic perception and three-dimensional vision (stereopsis), according to Aurora Torrents, the UPC professor in charge of the research.>As a result of these conclusions, the RACC is asking that the sight tests needed to obtain or renew a driving licence in Spain, taken within the feamework of a so-called psycho-physical medical report, be looked into carfully an changed as necessary.

According to the study, 4% of drivers (over one million) has a deficiency in long-range sight that makes small details difficult to see, presenting a score under 0.5, which is the legal limit with which to obtain a licence. Other items detected show that 58.4% have a distance-perception problem, possibly because of not having their glasses' upgraded regularly enough. This in turn can impinge on the ability to see such details as pedestrians on zebra crossings, cyclists, etc.

Another conclusion says that one in three drivers over 65 has a certain degree of colour-blindness,  fact that affects 8% of men and 0.4% of women. This would create problems at night because the colour of traffic lights is difficult to detect (not so during the day, though). Night driving, principally due to dazzlement, is difficult for 75% of drivers over 75, a factor that affects 2% of drivers in all age groups.

Aside from these and other conclusions, the research also found that women drive less distance per year than men: 65% of women drive less than 10,000 kms annually, against 45% of men. Women have less accidents than men, it says, with 3.7% of those in the survey having spent at least one night in hospital as the result of a traffic accident.

Given that 90% of all driving decisions arrives through the eyes, the Vista y Vida association is calling for a campaign to increase awareness among drivers of the need to have their eyes tested more frequently, which may well result in less accidents, accoring to the asociation's president, Javier Cañamero.