Sight is the most important sense in driving. Through our eyes we receive most of the information about everything that happens on the road and around the vehicle; Therefore, it is essential that drivers see well. It is a matter of safety, both for themselves and for other road users, who may end up being victims of an accident without being the cause.
Despite the vital importance of visual ability when driving a car, 44% of Spanish drivers claim to have had a scare behind the wheel due to not seeing well. In most cases the reason lies in not having observed something that was on the road or having done so too late. This is one of the conclusions collected in the study "I am not a lynx: Is society aware of the importance of vision on the road?", prepared by the Visión y Vida association, accompanied by Correos Express.
This report is based on the combination of data collected in surveys carried out on citizens to find out if they are aware of the importance of vision while driving and the results of the specific campaign of visual checks carried out by optical specialists, which has included the support of the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT), the Servei Català de Trànsit (SCT) and the Traffic Directorate of the Basque Government.
Only 43% of those surveyed consider that they see well to drive and 27.7% claim to have serious problems reading road information signs - in fact, even 0.6% have to have their passenger read them - .
More than half (52%) claim to have serious vision problems at night and 32.6% avoid getting behind the wheel at night. “During dawn and dusk we also see how 70.9% are very bothered by sunlight. It is important for the driver to know that there are some special lenses that help mitigate these problems and thus be able to drive more safely,” said the coordinator of the Visión y Vida entity, Elisenda Ibáñez Ibáñez.
On the other hand, 40.7% of drivers carry spare glasses or contact lenses in the vehicle. "Although it is not required by law, it is highly recommended; however, there are 28.8% who dare to drive when they have forgotten, something that alarms us," highlights the president of Visión y Vida, Salvador. Alsina, who wanted to highlight the link between poor vision and traffic accidents: “In 2017, with our first visual test campaign, we managed to discover the relationship between poor vision and accident rates. Today, six years later, we reconfirm it.” That year's study indicated that drivers with worse vision (visual acuity less than 0.5, the legal minimum) had more accidents than the rest.
The awareness work that Visión y Vida has carried out during this time has borne fruit: “After six years of work raising awareness about the importance of vision on the road, we see how the number of people who drive with less than 0 vision has decreased. .5: from 600,000 to 470,390”, stated Ibáñez.
If the results of the study are extrapolated to all drivers in Spain, it follows that almost eight million people, that is, 28.45 percent, report problems driving at night. And, as a consequence, around nine million people (32.62%) avoid driving during this period.
