Visual requirements for driving in India and elsewhere

Few months have passed since an Indian immigrant in Canada walked into my clinic. He had been denied a driving license by the Canadian authorities.

"... The guy didn't cooperate!", he said, shrugging his shoulders and looking at me furiously, as if I was the one who denied him his driving license.

"... And he didn't cite any reason either!", he continued.

I examined him thoroughly, and realized he had a normal vision but was a "Primary Open angle Glaucoma Suspect".

I explained him, "See, you need to undergo a test called automated perimetry, that will help us decide if you have a normal field of vision or not. With a normal result, you get a license, without it driving may be hazardous, and in your own self interest, you may avoid driving".

I am not sure if he was indeed seen as a glaucoma suspect in Canada, but in all probabilities they seem to be carrying out a good evaluation.

I don't know what happened to the guy, but he called me this morning and asked me if I could e mail him his glasses' diopteric power. I complied with his request and mentioned his visual status on the specified date.

That was this Canadian chap!

Another girl came to me today and told me that the local office had refused a driving license to her brother. The report suggested a best corrected visual acuity of 6/12 in one eye and 6/6 in the other eye. The visual acuity of 6/12 did not match with my record of 6/9.

Apparently, the license authority had gone by his perception about myopia; the boy had moderate myopia but could read well with his glasses. No other evaluation was carried out.

So, this is a contrasting situation: Two countries, two norms. Worst, the Indian authority in the second case didn't seem to know the realistic guidelines for determining the eligibility for getting a driving license.

There are more differences in the Vision Requirements for Driving Safety in different countries:

In Canada, the visual field requirement in Quebec may be different from other provinces. While the visual acuity requirements in India is 6/18, Canada allows a license with a visual acuity of 20/50 (equal to 6/15 in Indian proportion). But unlike Canada, India doesn't have visual field restrictions! In some countries such as U.K., visual acuity is tested if the driver declares an eye disease. Venezuelan authorites resort to routine evaluation of visual field by "confrontation" method where a person with a normal field would compare his field grossly with that of the applicant.

The requirements in the USA differ from state to state and strangely, In Indiana and in Michigan a monocular patient could be allowed with a vision of 20/50 (0.4, 6/15) whereas the requirement for binocular drivers is 20/40 (0.5, 6/12). In the USA, bi optic telescopes are allowed in some states.

So if you are in India, you would need to educate yourself and then can appeal against any odds that you might face due to the ignorance of the "system", while if you happen to be an immigrant in a country that tests the visual field, understand that safety of you as well as others depends on more factors than mere driving skills .

I sincerely hope, that the Indian authorities would soon define a criterion for visual field as well.

Happy driving!