Sunday 5th June will see the classic car festival in Stony Stratford returning once again, which has now been running for 3 years. Each year, the festival has been sponsored by Lesley Arkin who is an optometrist in the area.
Lesley has had her practice for the last 30 years providing local residents with eye health services, and she believes that very much like any classic car, a motorist’s eyesight needs looking after on a regular basis.
She notes that at the end of the day, most classic car enthusiasts wouldn’t think twice about MOTing their classic vehicles, and the same approach should be applied to eye sight. Everything requires upkeep to prevent deterioration, and also may require new parts to run smoothly, so people who are required to wear glasses should wear them at all times.
Many people, especially later on in life, forget that eyesight deteriorates and may not be the required standard to drive safely. Regular checks on eyesight however will ensure the safety of driver, passengers, pedestrians and other users of the roads.
When surveys were carried out, it was found that over 5.3 million drivers on the road have vision that is compromised in some way, and over 1.32 million of these admitted to not wearing glasses or contact lenses to help their sight, and most of them had also not had an eye test in over a 5 year period.
One of the biggest problems is drivers not purchasing prescription sun glasses and driving with standard sunglasses in bright sunlight; not only is the fact of blinding sunlight shining through your windscreen very dangerous, but not being able to see with your full ability only adds to the danger of this.