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Applicants for a learner’s license, driver’s license, or renewal of a driver’s license must undergo a mandatory eye test, the Driver Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA) has set July 1st, 2022 to start the policy.

The eye test results must be certified by a registered ophthalmologist or optometrist which shall be presented to the DVLA in accordance with Regulation 29 of the Road Traffic Regulations, 2012 (L.I. 2180).

The DVLA which is rolling out the policy in conjunction with the Ghana Optometric Association (GOA) is to ensure that only credible eye test results are presented to the Authority.

A DVLA document available to the Ghana News Agency in Tema indicates that only persons with good vision would be licensed to drive, and that road traffic crashes caused by drivers with defective sights would be reduced.

According to the DVLA as part of measures for the full implementation, it rolled out a pilot phase for all new driver’s license applicants.

The DVLA explained that the objectives are to ensure that existing licensed and prospective drivers who might be developing vision problems but were unaware were identified and treated to save their sights and improve the country’s road safety.

As part of the policy, drivers who wish to acquire a driver’s license or renew existing ones will no longer have their eyes tested at the offices of the DVLA but at a designated optical centre.

According to the DVLA, it has decided to streamline its eye testing by allowing ophthalmologists to conduct a thorough eye test on clients before the issuance or renewal of driver’s licenses.

Mr. Benjamin Peh, Acting Head of Research, Business Development, and Innovation disclosed this at a day’s Stakeholders Engagement seminar organized by the Ghana News Agency-Tema Regional Office that “in compliance with the road traffic regulations from now onwards every eye test has to be done by a qualified eye specialist and the result sent to DVLA for verification and authentication.”

According to him, a list of designated eye testing centres would be provided for a client to go for the test and a mechanism would be put in place for the results to reach the office for the next stage of the license renewal or acquisition.

“We met with the Ophthalmologists who made us understand that they can even detect other sicknesses such as malaria through the eyes so when you go to them, such issues can easily be identified to help in reducing road crashes,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Optometric Association (GOA) has indicated that the current assessment of only the visual acuity of people as a requirement for acquiring a driver’s license was a contributing factor to road crashes.

Dr. Alfred Gardemor GOA Public Relations Officer said currently, visual acuity was the only visual function assessed for the acquisition of driving licensing in Ghana; “For visual fields, a binocular field of at least 120° horizontal and 40° verticals is required”.

Dr. Gardemor stated at Ghana News Agency-Tema Regional Office and the Ghana Optometric Association fortnightly public sensitization initiative “GNA-GOA: My Eye! My Vision!

The initiative is a collaborative public education advocacy campaign to promote the need for people to access eye care and to draw attention to vision health.

The GNA-GOA: My Eyes! My Vision! The initiative also seeks to challenge the public and policymakers to focus on vision as a health issue, which forms a critical component of mankind’s wellbeing but is often neglected.

Speaking on the topic: “Vision and Night Driving; The Challenges,” Dr. Gardemor, said even though it was important to be able to judge distances and speed involved in automobile traffic, binocular stereopsis was not the most important depth as persons who lost one eye would regain adequate distance judgments after an adaptation period.

He said the laws on driving in Ghana were deficient on the cut-off measure in the worse eye of a driver.

Dr. Gardemor who is the Optometrist at the Nsawam Government Hospital added that even though visual field (how wide an area the eyes can see when focusing on a crucial point) was also a requirement for driving in Ghana.

He unfortunately said most of the tests done for driving in Ghana do not take care of that, even though it was in the country’s laws, and that he said was a challenge and welcomed the DVLA policy directive.