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A survey of the visual acuity of Brisbane drivers
Author(s) -
McConnell Robyn A,
Spall Andrew D,
Hirst Lawrence W,
Williams Gail
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1991.tb142138.x
Subject(s) - optometry , visual acuity , psychology , medicine , ophthalmology
Objective: To conduct a survey of the visual acuity of a group of Brisbane Drivers. Setting: The outpatient department of the Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane. Participants: Five hundred and three subjects drawn from patients, visitors and staff attending the outpatient department on 10 working days from December 5 to December 16, 1988. Main outcome measures: Subjects' age, driver's licence details and driving history were gathered by questionnaire. Visual acuity was assessed with the aid of a Snellen chart. Results: Nearly 6% of the survey group had visual acuity worse than 6/12; 15% had never had their eyes tested other than for licensing purposes; 21% stated that their last ophthalmic or optometric examination was more than five years previously; and 8% failed to meet the Queensland visual acuity requirements for their class of licence. Conclusions: The monocular driver is not detected by current licence testing procedures in Queensland. Many licence holders do not meet the present visual acuity criteria of the Queensland Department of Transport.