Letters | Include optometrists in updating eyesight standards for Hong Kong drivers
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Road safety should be taken seriously, and the relationship between drivers’ physical fitness and road safety is self-evident. It is thus gratifying to see that the Transport Department’s review of drivers’ physical fitness certification is under way.
The fitness requirements being reviewed include vision standards. Currently, Hong Kong requires all drivers to be able “to read at a distance of 23m in good daylight a vehicle number plate”. This is exceedingly outdated and inadequate, especially when compared to other countries.
For example, for private drivers, the United Kingdom requires visual acuity to be “at least Snellen 6/12 with both eyes open” and a visual field of “at least 120° on the horizontal”. Standards are stricter for commercial drivers.
In 2022, the government commissioned a team from the University of Hong Kong’s Faculty of Medicine to review the requirements, though without consulting, for example, Polytechnic University’s School of Optometry. Nor were optometrists acknowledged in the resulting Legislative Council panel document.
Many stakeholders in Hong Kong seem to act ignorant of services provided by optometrists, unlike in other jurisdictions, when it comes to vision-related lawmaking.
