Licences can be immediately suspended if driver fails police eye sight test.

Written by Admin on February 07th 2013

A new procedure has been launched today (7th February 2013) which gives the police the power to request an immediate suspension of a driver’s licence if the driver fails a police eyesight test.

Before the introduction of this new procedure, police could only request someone stop driving if they failed a police eye test but had no powers to officially stop them from returning to the road. Under the new fast track procedure if an officer feels a driver’s eyesight could put others in harm’s way, they can now request via the DVLA an urgent and immediate revocation of the driver’s licence.

It will be a criminal offence to continue driving after you have been notified of a suspension of your licence.

This new procedure was introduced following the tragic death of a 16 year old Essex teenager Cassie McCord who was knocked down by a driver who had been warned by the police about his eyesight only days earlier. The police had tried to persuade the driver not to drive after he failed a police eye sight test but they had no powers to officially stop him from driving. The introduction of this new procedure is welcomed by police forces across the UK.