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More zealously
coozer - 6/11/09 at 05:58 PM

The police state strikes again...

ORDEAL

So, one eye or two, glasses or not can they stop you to prove you have good eye sight??


Rod Ends - 6/11/09 at 06:24 PM

She should wear a burqa then they'll leave her alone.


speedyxjs - 6/11/09 at 06:38 PM

quote:
Originally posted by coozer
So, one eye or two, glasses or not can they stop you to prove you have good eye sight??


They have always been able to do that.


02GF74 - 6/11/09 at 07:02 PM

sorry, I don;t get it.

having proper sight surely is a prerequisite to be allowed driving a car on the public roads?

having one eye, no matter how tragic the cricumstatnces of the loss may be, doesn't IMO meet the above requirement.

Police did a proper job, cann't see (no pun intended!) what the fuss is all about.


richard thomas - 6/11/09 at 07:16 PM

Ummmm, I don't think that having only one eye prevent's anyone driving....?

Why would it?

Before anyone comments about distance perception, I already know.....but I still don't think it makes any difference to obtaining a driving licence


mistergrumpy - 6/11/09 at 07:30 PM

Having had a quick read I think you have to have at least 120 degrees sight to hold a valid license.
But, if you put yourself in the officers shoes and you have the job of policing and you see a person driving with one eye covered. Doing nothing is never an option be it no further action, verbal advice or something stronger, then what is the problem with stopping the vehicle and making enquiries? Enquiries with the traffic department on requirements and a drivers license check to see that the DVLA are aware of the disability and everything being fine then sending the driver on her way? No big deal just making enquiries.


chris.russell - 6/11/09 at 07:42 PM

my grandad only has sight in one eye following an operation 20 years ago, never stopped him driving....


David Jenkins - 6/11/09 at 07:43 PM

Presumably she passed her test with one eye...


cd.thomson - 6/11/09 at 07:46 PM

quote:
Originally posted by richard thomas
Before anyone comments about distance perception, I already know.....but I still don't think it makes any difference to obtaining a driving licence


err stopping distances? ability to react in a timely fashion? you cant just say "before anyone comments" then gloss over the issue!

shes probably suitably conditioned to using other cues for driving safely though.

On the side of the copper I think if someone had just had a cataract op then they shouldnt be driving and there would be no way to distinguish the difference from a police car?

[Edited on 6/11/09 by cd.thomson]


designer - 6/11/09 at 07:50 PM

Has Gordon Brown got a licence?


Theshed - 6/11/09 at 07:52 PM

The DVLA medical guidance is available on line as are the minutes of their Expert medical panels. Having sight in just one eye is apparently ok for a car driver providing the other eye is OK - as in this case apparently. Not so for HGV.

I would doubt whether there is a general power to stop a motorist on the grounds that they might not be medically qualified to hold a license although other are wide ranging powers to stop motorists. I therefore have sympathy with the suggestion that this was over zealous - none whatsoever with the suggestion that we live in a "police state".


gazza285 - 6/11/09 at 08:05 PM

quote:
Originally posted by designer
Has Gordon Brown got a licence?


Of course not, he has no connections to the real world at all.


Liam - 6/11/09 at 08:39 PM

Also can't see what the fuss is about! How was the copper supposed to know the driver wasn't driving whilst dangerously impaired? The 'patch' even looks like a fresh surgical dressing. Copper did exactly the right thing in stopping the driver to check her eligibility to drive then, with that established, sending her on her way. If a driver had been visually impaired and went on to kill a child, the same people moaning now would be moaning about why the driver wasn't stopped by a copper. Police can't win! People will scream "discrimination" for literally anything nowadays


Daddylonglegs - 6/11/09 at 09:37 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Liam
....People will scream "discrimination" for literally anything nowadays


Stop discriminating against discriminators!


MikeRJ - 6/11/09 at 10:46 PM

quote:
Originally posted by coozer
The police state strikes again...

ORDEAL

So, one eye or two, glasses or not can they stop you to prove you have good eye sight??


Move along, nothing to see here

The 1988 Road Traffic Act gives police the power to stop a vehicle for any reason. Perhaps the sight of traffic police is now so uncommon that people think there is something bad happening when they are found doing their job?


OX - 6/11/09 at 10:57 PM

she was probably just an easy target for the policeman involved ...the oap who cant look over his shoulder would be to hard to spot and to much hassle for them... i guess


Ninehigh - 8/11/09 at 02:56 AM

The NHS can't cover a glass eye?

Iirc (the coppers here will correct me) the Plod need a reason to stop you, but they don't have to give the reason. I guess if she kept her mouth shut (like I always do) then she'd have been on her way with no fuss


mistergrumpy - 8/11/09 at 01:14 PM

Police do need a reason to stop people and they should tell that reason to the person in a set format which at the moment escapes me as I've only been up half an hour and I'm back to work in 45 minutes.
Anyway, as you say sometimes before you can start with the speil the person goes off on one or starts denying all and sundry and then you suddenly have new reasons to detain that person.


MikeRJ - 9/11/09 at 08:07 PM

quote:
Originally posted by mistergrumpy
Police do need a reason to stop people



Check out the Road Traffic Act s163. Officers have the power to stop any vehicles, no reason needed. However they do need reasonable suspicion to search you and your car.


mistergrumpy - 10/11/09 at 12:25 AM

Very aware of S.163, 164 and 165 also


Staple balls - 10/11/09 at 12:46 AM

I don't see what the problem is. Sure, I can't imagine her life is easy.

However, she is driving around with what looks like a fresh dressing on her eye, for all anyone knows it could be immediately post operation.

In the article it says “Monocular vision is acceptable for cars and motorcycles, as long as it has existed sufficiently long enough to allow for adaptation, and the sight in the remaining eye satisfies all standards of visual fitness.”

Seems to me that it was just sensible to check her out on the basis that the eye patch looks recent and a not particularly permanent solution.