Valli Opticians drive home importance of regular eye tests

This coming weekend Valli Opticians will be driving home the importance of regular eye tests at the annual vintage car rally in Hebden Bridge.

Did you know that one in six drivers in the UK would fail a basic eye test, according to figures released by a road safety charity.

Research by the Huddersfield-based charity Brake also found that over 12 million people in Britain who were due an eye test failed to take one.

Now Valli Opticians is backing Brake’s Sharpen Up campaign to encourage drivers to have their eyes tested regularly.

Staff from the Mytholmroyd and Hebden Bridge branches will be taking part in the rally in the classic MGB GT that proprietor Moin Valli recently drove to Le Mans and back for a fundraising event for the Forget Me Not children’s hospice in Huddersfield.

Drivers will have the chance to have their vision checked on the spot using an iPad test chart, as well as carrying out free ‘spectacle MOTs’ – inspecting, mending and adjusting spectacles free of charge.

Mr Valli said: “Research carried out by Brake shows that many drivers don’t have their eyes tested regularly or even at all. It is estimated that every year in the UK, around 12.5 million people who are due an eye test do not have one, and a survey suggests as many as one in six drivers can’t see well enough to pass the basic eyesight test.

“It’s shocking stuff. Being a good and experienced driver is meaningless if you can’t spot hazards because of poor vision.”

He added that the most common cause of poor driver eyesight was people not getting regular eye tests, and not wearing the right prescription glasses. But eye disease was a significant cause too, particularly if left undiagnosed and untreated. Although more common in the over 50s, problems such as glaucoma, cataracts and diabetes could affect a driver’s vision.