Sight pi or foi As
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LICENSING Authorities have now to consider whether drivers with defective eyesight should be allowed to drive heavy goods vehicles.
Northern LA B. J. Foster has held that the wearing of industrial-type goggles over ordinary spectacles to be sufficient in the case of David Steele, of Tower Street, Castle Croft, Egremont, Cumbria.
Mr Steele appeared at a Cockermouth public inquiry after his application for reconsideration of the refusal of a class 3 licence had been adjourned.
He had had a defect in hit right eye and had worn spectacles since the age of five but he had been driving hgv for five years and had beer with his present employer foi 14 years. He claimed that ht drives without difficulty anc drives a private car regularly. The LA was concerned about the possibility of foreign bodies getting in Mr Steel's eyes and affecting his vision when driving.
Contact lenses
Mr Steele produced a certificate from an ophthalmic optician to say that the wearing of industrial-type goggles over his spectacles would reduce the possibility of danger and prevent foreign matter getting in. The applicant was not blind in the defective eye.
The LA said Mr Steele had gone to a great deal of trouble to ensure that he was fit to drive and the question of the wearing of goggles would be of interest to those who had to wear contact lenses. He was satisfied there would be no danger to the public if a class 3 licence was granted, but Mr Steele must not use it as a provisional before applying for a higher class of licence.
Mr Steele gave an undertaking that he would not do so.