Drivers over 70 could be banned from the road if they fail compulsory eye tests as part of "radical" reforms of motoring laws in England and Wales, said the BBC.
The proposal is part of the biggest shake-up to the UK's driving laws "for decades", said Alex Davies-Jones, the justice minister.
What are the new proposals?
Under the government's new road safety strategy, due to be published in the autumn, eye tests would become compulsory for the over-70s when they renew their driving licence every three years.
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The drink-drive limit is expected to be lowered from 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath to 22 micrograms, which would match the laws in Scotland. Police may also be allowed to bring prosecutions for drug-driving on the basis of roadside saliva tests rather than blood tests, as at present.
Tougher seatbelt rules may include penalty points for drivers if their passengers fail to wear a seatbelt, and there could also be stiffer penalties for uninsured drivers.
Why are they being suggested now?
Last year, 1,633 people were killed and almost 28,000 seriously injured in traffic incidents, according to data from the Department for Transport (DfT). Ministers have concluded that the current safety messaging is not working, so it's time to act. "In no other circumstance would we accept 1,600 people dying, with thousands more seriously injured, costing the NHS more than £2 billion per year," a government source told the BBC.
At an inquest into four deaths caused by drivers with poor eyesight, James Adeley, the senior coroner for Lancashire, described the UK's licensing system as the "laxest in Europe" when it came to eyesight testing. The UK is one of only three European countries that relies on drivers self-reporting conditions affecting their vision to the DVLA, and the only one in which drivers could avoid mandatory re-testing for "as much as 53 years".
Would the changes make roads safer?
Sub-par vision is a significant factor in many road accidents. In 2023 defective eyesight was a factor in 252 road collision incidents and six deaths, according to the DfT. And the number of drivers with dangerously poor vision could be as high as 720,650, said the Driving Instructors Association, citing a survey carried out last year. Of the 3,010 individuals tested, 50 were unable to read a numberplate 20 metres away, a failure rate of 1.7%.
In the case of lowering the alcohol limit, the impact is not "clear-cut", said Auto Express. In the decade since the drink-drive limit was reduced in Scotland, the number of accidents hasn't fallen. A study by Jonathan James, from the University of Bath, and Marco Francesconi, from the University of Essex, found that "stricter limits alone" may not be enough to reduce drink-driving accidents unless they're matched by "effective enforcement".
Edmund King, president of the AA, said that some of the most successful reforms in countries like Australia and Canada focused on restricting newly licensed young drivers, said The Times. Banning young motorists from transporting peer-age passengers for six months has been shown to cut death and serious injury by between 20% and 40%. In the UK, similar success would translate to at least 58 deaths and 934 serious injuries being prevented annually.
While King believes the new measures will "modernise our approach to saving lives", the failure to address dangers posed by the youngest as well as the oldest motorists remains "a major oversight", said The Independent.
