Older drivers face mandatory eye tests as government consultation closes
Key Points
- The UK government consultation on mandatory eye tests for drivers aged 70 and over closed on 11 May 2026
- The Department for Transport is reviewing responses, with no decision yet announced
- Around 2.3 million UK drivers are aged 70 or older, and 24% of car drivers killed in 2024 were in that age group
- Conservative MP Andrew Snowden has questioned whether a centralised contract would shut out independent community opticians
- Specsavers already holds a £12.34 million DVLA contract for related eyesight tests, running to March 2028
Drivers aged 70 and over could be required to pass an eye test to renew their licence after a Department for Transport consultation closed on 11 May.
The 12-week consultation, launched on 7 January as part of the government’s 2026 Road Safety Strategy, asked whether the UK should scrap the self-declaration system used at licence renewal and replace it with a mandatory eye test.
There are 2.3 million UK licence holders aged 70 or over, with a further 12 million aged 55 to 69, according to official figures. About 24% of all car drivers killed in 2024 were aged 70 or older.
Under the current rules, drivers must renew their licence at 70 and at most every three years thereafter. At each renewal, they sign a legal declaration that they meet eyesight standards and disclose any listed medical conditions. The UK is one of only three countries that relies on self-reporting at this stage.
A prevention of future deaths report sent to Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander in April 2025 by Senior Coroner for Lancashire James Adeley, covering four pedestrians killed in three collisions involving drivers with failing eyesight, has been cited as a key driver of the consultation. The wider Road Safety Strategy commits to cutting deaths and serious injuries on Britain’s roads by 65% by 2035.
Andrew Snowden, Conservative MP for Fylde, has raised concerns about how any new testing regime would be delivered. In a written parliamentary question to the Transport Secretary, he asked what assessment had been made of the impact on independent community optometry practices of running mandatory eye tests through an exclusive and centralised contracting model.
The DVLA’s current contract for required eyesight tests for drivers referred over medical conditions was awarded to Specsavers in December 2024 and runs to 31 March 2028, with two one-year extension options.
The contract is worth £12.34 million. Drivers can use other providers but must pay themselves and meet the same specifications.
Local Transport Minister Lilian Greenwood said logistical arrangements formed part of the consultation and that no decisions would be made until responses had been considered.
“The Department for Transport is currently analysing the responses, and the government response will be published once that is complete,” she said in a written response on Monday (19 May).
The Association of Optometrists and the College of Optometrists have backed mandatory testing but want it extended to all drivers at every licence renewal.
In its joint response with the College, the AOP said the sight test should be delivered by registered optometrists through community optometry practices, and that limiting testing to drivers over 70 would miss large numbers of younger drivers with undetected vision problems.
The AA has welcomed the proposals. “The likelihood of crashes increases once someone is over the age of 70 and markedly rises for those above the age of 80 to a peak at age 86, with eyesight often a worrying factor,” said Edmund King, AA President.
The Department has not set a date for publication of the government response.
