THE STRIVE FOR UNIFORM VISUAL STANDARDS FOR DRIVERS IN THE NORDIC COUNTRIES

Among the Nordic countries, visual demands for obtaining a driving licence differ in many respects, eg, car drivers in Finland must have a better visual acuity than those in the other countries; on the other hand there are no Finnish requirements on the visual field. Sweden and Finland have higher standards for professional drivers' visual acuity and Norway and Sweden have limits for their degree of ametropia. These and other discrepancies can cause serious problems for people who move from one country to another. In 1979, the Nordic societies for traffic medicine arranged a meeting on traffic vision. Various visual functions, their validity and testing procedures were discussed. Unanimity was sought regarding which functions should be tested and minimum acceptable capacity. The conference ended up with the decision that those views that were accepted by the Nordic societies for traffic medicine should be put before the Nordic council. Static visual acquity should be tested binocularly and at higher standard for professional drivers (0,7) than for private vehicle drivers (0,5). Gross visual field defects are not allowed: there is, however, lack of knowledge of the minimum acceptable driver field. Normal colour visiion is not required. There is a need for a simple, yet valid night vision testing procedure. One-eyed and professional drivers. Although the benefit of retesting elderly drivers has not been proven, this is logical for those over the age of 65 years. (TRRL)

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/9173725892
• Supplemental Notes:
  • The First Nordic Congress on Traffic Medicine, The Man, The Cause and The Victim, held June 8-11, 1982, in Linkoeping, Sweden.
• Corporate Authors:

  Svensk Trafikmedicinsk Foerening

  P.O. Box 10043
  S-10055 Stockholm 10,   Sweden 
• Authors:
  • HEDIN, A
• Publication Date: 1982

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 3
• Serial:
  • Publication of: Svensk Trafikmedicinsk Foerening
  • Publisher: Svensk Trafikmedicinsk Foerening

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automotive medicine; Conferences; Drivers; Driving tests; Field of vision; Legislation; Professional drivers; Standardization; Standards; Vision
• Geographic Terms: Denmark; Finland; Norway; Sweden
• Old TRIS Terms: Driver vision
• ITRD Terms: 8525: Conference; 8028: Denmark; 1772: Driver; 2056: Field of vision; 8035: Finland; 1556: Legislation; 8084: Norway; 8109: Sweden; 2066: Vision
• Subject Areas: Highways; Law; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00372585
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI)
• ISBN: 91-7372-589-2
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: May 31 1983 12:00AM