Thread: Eye Exam for Drivers Permit: The Good and the Ugly

The Federal Road Safety Commission’s (FRSC) plan to reduce road accidents by providing free mandatory eye test to drivers, may suffer a ditch like the cost of treatment or even legality of barring those with defect which could frustrate the potential gains of the eye test, writes Chiemelie Ezeobi

As usual, the sun rose from the East and cast the streets of Lagos in a golden hue with its characteristics harsh weather accompanied by the stinging rays of the sun. Not surprisingly, the hot weather seemed to have affected motorists alike with impatience as they all struggled for the right of way to leave the canopy of the scorching sun.

Suddenly, the ambience of the busy afternoon was shattered by a screeching sound accompanied by a loud thud. A 46-seater- commercial bus had rammed into a Toyota Camry Saloon Car.

At first, many thought the gory and grisly scene was not real. And no, it was not the scene of a badly prepared Nollywood script either. The accident scene was as real as it could ever get.

While passersby were still trying to wrap their minds around the somewhat unreal incident, scraps of the dismembered bodies littered the streets, the collective pool of blood from the accident victims ran from all angles until it congealed at a spot.

Rescue efforts which kicked off rather late could only rescue five persons from the carnage including the driver of the ill-fated vehicle. Preliminary investigations into the cause of the accident revealed the driver had an eye defect, which made him not see the oncoming car until it was rather late.

The eyes are often described as the window to the soul. This statement is not far from the truth as the eyes tell a story of its own, often depicting the state of one’s mood; either in a weepy, sad, angry or happy state. This is the story across Nigeria as commuter bus driver wheeled out on the road to ferry their passengers. Indeed, there are drivers in Nigeria who have lost an eye and still have drivers’ license. They drift out of their lanes unconsciously and blindly search for the gear away from the component of the gear-box.

But this, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), says must be checked to save lives. It commenced a mandatory nationwide automated free eye test for driver’s license applicants at over 50 processing centers, spread across the country.

The Free eye mandatory test, according to the FRSC, was designed to give room for on-the-spot vision/screening examination.

The test is also expected to sight correction among drivers as parts of the Corps’ strategies towards road accident reduction in Nigeria.

Giving reasons for its resolve to take safety on the roads up another notch, FRSC in a recent publication said the incessant loss of lives on the roads is preventable.

Corroborating the need for the eye test, the FRSC Public Education Officer, Mr. Jonas Agwu, stressed that the test is part of the efforts to enhance the safety of road users and reduce accidents.

He said, “The mandatory eye test was designed to give room for on-the-spot vision and screening and sight correction among drivers as part of strategies to reduce road accidents. The test is imperative as “visibility is one of the important ingredients for safety’’.

Advancing reasons for the choice of the Optec 1000 Vision testing machine for the mandatory test, Agwu noted that one of the unique advantages of the machine is its ability to detect if someone can recognise colours.

“Also the machine detects side views including visual field and has come to replace the manual chart which was previously used but could only discover short and long sightedness of drivers,” he confirmed.

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