Driving as your eyesight starts to deteriorate when you get older

[6Gman]

I suppose it's easy if you're old and driving in the dark, that coming from the below angle, taking a right turn you might easily be mistaken and carry on onto the track. Obviously it shouldn't happen if you don't know how to drive in the dark properly. In fact it shouldn't happen at all. Anything could be to blame, road markings for example, so be interesting to see the outcome of any investigations.

mods note - split from this thread

Car hit by train at level crossing in Leicestershire 14/10/26

A woman was taken to hospital with minor injuries after a car was hit by a freight train on a level crossing in Leicestershire. British Transport Police (BTP) said it was called to the crossing in Rearsby at about 20:35 BST on Tuesday. Network Rail said the vehicle had become "stranded" at the...

www.railforums.co.uk

At what age do you feel people should stop driving at night?

 

[trainmania100]

At what age do you feel people should stop driving at night?

Id say around 60. Unfortunately people continue to drive even when they (probably know) they shouldn't. My late grandfather was 70 and still driving, I'd be a passenger and he'd make very bizarre mistakes completely forgetting the rules of the road. Not giving way etc.

That's my personal opinion everyone's different though. Maybe could set the age threshold at retirement.

 

[cats_five]

Id say around 60. Unfortunately people continue to drive even when they (probably know) they shouldn't. My late grandfather was 70 and still driving, I'd be a passenger and he'd make very bizarre mistakes completely forgetting the rules of the road. Not giving way etc.

That's my personal opinion everyone's different though. Maybe could set the age threshold at retirement.

You must be very young to think 60 is old. Very, very young.

 

[trainmania100]

You must be very young to think 60 is old. Very, very young.

Actually I'm half way there and already feel old :-P

Unfortunately we all make mistakes, regardless of age, just like this driver .

 

[AlterEgo]

You must be very young to think 60 is old. Very, very young.

Someone who is 60 has quite poor night vision compared to a 20 year old, needing three times as much light to see clearly.

 

[Unobrow]

A lot of very sweeping statements regarding 60yr olds. I wonder if these people will be handing their licenses in when they reach that age?

 

[Krokodil]

Someone who is 60 has quite poor night vision compared to a 20 year old, needing three times as much light to see clearly.

This is why renewal of driving licences should be subject to an optician's report.

 

[HOOVER29]

A lot of very sweeping statements regarding 60yr olds. I wonder if these people will be handing their licenses in when they reach that age?

I certainly won’t be in just over a years time

Besides I had my cataracts done two years ago & at night I’ve crystal clear vision

We’re not all ready for the scrap heap as soon as we hit 60!

 

[6Gman]

Someone who is 60 has quite poor night vision compared to a 20 year old, needing three times as much light to see clearly.

Do you have a source for that.

The figures I've seen suggest a 35% reduction (on average) between 20 and 60 in sensitivity.

 

[AlterEgo]

Do you have a source for that.

The figures I've seen suggest a 35% reduction (on average) between 20 and 60 in sensitivity.

When driving at night, sometimes too much or too little light can be a challenge. As eyes get older, the pupil decreases in size and loses its ability to dilate to the same degree it used to when younger. By the age of 60, the human eye requires three times more light to see than in your twenties.

Aging Eyes and Night Vision | Skyline Vision Clinic

The eyes change considerably as we age. Around the early to mid-forties, many adults begin to experience signs and symptoms related to vision changes. Just like the rest of your body, the eyes change over time. Common age-related problems you may begin to experience include difficulty reading up...

skylinevisionclinic.com

The Older Eye - Melina Joy Opticians

Age brings changes to your vision and eyes, but good lighting will help.

www.melinajoy.co.uk

https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2011/01/your-aging-eyes

 

[notverydeep]

Id say around 60. Unfortunately people continue to drive even when they (probably know) they shouldn't. My late grandfather was 70 and still driving, I'd be a passenger and he'd make very bizarre mistakes completely forgetting the rules of the road. Not giving way etc.

That's my personal opinion everyone's different though. Maybe could set the age threshold at retirement.

9.4% of railway workers in the UK are over 60 (source here: https://www.nsar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Annual-Workforce-Survey-2025-web-download.pdf), with many more in their 50s and soon to reach that age. Presumably many of these members of staff drive to work...

The proportion of those aged 50 and over has decreased from 34.3% in 2024 to 33% in 2025.

 

[StoneRoad]

Apart from being dazzled when driving into direct sunlight at a low angle - morning or evening - which probably applies to everybody, the crepuscular light levels can really mess with your sight, especially colours & depth perception.

I also recall that some drunken revellers once tried driving along the Ffestiniog Railway near Boston Lodge, quite how they got there remains a bit of a mystery, it wasn't somewhere you could get to "accidently" when trying to get somewhere else ...

 

[Krokodil]

9.4% of railway workers in the UK are over 60 (source here: https://www.nsar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Annual-Workforce-Survey-2025-web-download.pdf), with many more in their 50s and soon to reach that age. Presumably many of these members of staff drive to work...

If they're safety-critical then they'll be tested regularly as part of their medical

 

[Unobrow]

Aging Eyes and Night Vision | Skyline Vision Clinic

The eyes change considerably as we age. Around the early to mid-forties, many adults begin to experience signs and symptoms related to vision changes. Just like the rest of your body, the eyes change over time. Common age-related problems you may begin to experience include difficulty reading up...

skylinevisionclinic.com

The Older Eye - Melina Joy Opticians

Age brings changes to your vision and eyes, but good lighting will help.

www.melinajoy.co.uk

https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2011/01/your-aging-eyes

So you’ll be handing your licence in then on your 60th birthday?

I assume that you’ll also want 60+ year olds to be instantly removed from train driving, HGV driving, pilots etc since they demand higher levels of skill, experience and health? If your parents are still with you, and forgive me if they’re not, will you be telling them the same when they reach your scrap heap age, if they’ve not already? I still hold my HGV licence and also pass my annual medical, so I won’t be taking your advice come my milestone birthday thanks.

Plenty of incidents occur daily, some sadly resulting in fatalities by younger drivers (by which I mean 17-60) by poor/reckless and dangerous driving, but I’m not hearing you call for those age groups to have their entitlement rescinded. Whilst this is a puzzling incident, the driver thankfully survived so the authorities will hopefully get to understand exactly why she turned onto the railway.

 

[Towers]

All this "should lose their licence" stuff is a bit performative. Train drivers are also at risk of becoming target focused like everyone else, and the environment is carefully and expensively designed so they hopefully do not. The same does not necessarily happen with or roads. Level crossings are the principal risk to life on the railway.

I disagree; I don’t think it’s an unreasonable position to feel that if a person is not capable of navigating a level crossing without causing a train crash then they are not competent to hold a driving licence.

What are your thoughts of drivers of high vehicles receiving a driving ban when they collide with a low bridge?

 

[AlterEgo]

What are your thoughts of drivers of high vehicles receiving a driving ban when they collide with a low bridge?

It depends on the circumstances, which aligns with reality. It isn't an automatic ban. Mostly it's careless driving which attracts 3 to 9 penalty points. I expect this driver will also fall under careless driving too.

If a driver is a professional and they face a driver conduct hearing (as they are held quite rightly to a much higher standard), it could be an automatic ban at least on their vocational driving licence, but mitigation like "it's an unfamiliar route and I was distracted by the weather" can lead to a suspension rather than a ban.

So you’ll be handing your licence in then on your 60th birthday?

No, of course not. If you read very carefully you'll notice I haven't said anyone should.

I assume that you’ll also want 60+ year olds to be instantly removed from train driving, HGV driving, pilots etc since they demand higher levels of skill, experience and health? If your parents are still with you, and forgive me if they’re not, will you be telling them the same when they reach your scrap heap age, if they’ve not already? I still hold my HGV licence and also pass my annual medical, so I won’t be taking your advice come my milestone birthday thanks.

I didn't give you any advice. All I said was that night vision acuity decreases quite a bit and backed it up with sources. You may be confusing me with someone else.

 

[Unobrow]

I didn't give you any advice. All I said was that night vision acuity decreases quite a bit and backed it up with sources. You may be confusing me with someone else.

Yes, my apologies you’re correct. I should be a bit more carefully clicking the reply button after reading multiple comments.

I should have been replying to trainmania100’s post, comment #25.

 

[josh-j]

I disagree; I don’t think it’s an unreasonable position to feel that if a person is not capable of navigating a level crossing without causing a train crash then they are not competent to hold a driving licence.

What are your thoughts of drivers of high vehicles receiving a driving ban when they collide with a low bridge?

This is the same as saying, if a person is not capable of stopping at a red signal they are not competent to be a train driver. It doesn't work like that, because of course drivers (both of trains and of cars) are indeed capable of doing so and be entirely competent and yet still occasionally mess up.

You are always - *always* - going to occasionally have very competent people mess up. People mess up, sometimes that's due to external factors and sometimes not. It happens and always will. That's why you design systems to mitigate risk where possible.

 

[norbitonflyer]

I am in my late 60s, and my distance vision prescription at my last eye test was actually better than it was when I was 30. I am now legal to drive without glasses.
I do now need reading glasses though.

 

[blimmo]

I'm not arguing for an automatic driving ban at 60 but I do think the UK's current system over protects against young people's poor driving while under protecting against the same from older people. Probably because it's easier to withhold an entitlement than revoke it.

 

[Harpo]

I do think the UK's current system over protects against young people's poor driving

In what way? The only ‘protection’ I’m aware of is high insurance premiums based on the proven levels of risk, which limit car power, or black boxes to monitor behaviour.

while under protecting against the same from older people.

Or anybody else after they’ve passed their test, not just the elderly.

It’s nonsensical that there is no compulsory retraining or re-assessment at all in the years between age 17 and age 70 when eyesight is checked.

 

[AlterEgo]

Young people - who make up the vast majority of newer drivers - lose their licence after six points and not twelve. That's in the first two years after passing your practical test.

 

[Towers]

This is the same as saying, if a person is not capable of stopping at a red signal they are not competent to be a train driver. It doesn't work like that, because of course drivers (both of trains and of cars) are indeed capable of doing so and be entirely competent and yet still occasionally mess up.

You are always - *always* - going to occasionally have very competent people mess up. People mess up, sometimes that's due to external factors and sometimes not. It happens and always will. That's why you design systems to mitigate risk where possible.

It isn’t, unless you’re referring to a train driver seeing a red signal and being unable to understand that it means stop. I think the eyesight issue is a bit of a red herring, unless we’re saying the driver was so visually impaired as to have been unable to see any of the road signage at or on the approach to the crossing. It is an issue of comprehension and, ultimately, competence.

This incident is more akin to those situations where a motorist fails to comprehend a road layout and ends up facing the wrong way on a motorway; I don’t think anybody capable of doing that should be driving, either. As for a train driver, any decision as to whether they should continue to drive is detailed, lengthy and considered. That is far less the case with motorists.

 

[Ashley Hill]

My father who’s 88 still drives but doesn’t drive after dusk for reasons discussed above. I too at 55 try to avoid driving out of town after dark. It’s being dazzled by the bright headlights of modern cars that foils me.

 

[Towers]

My father who’s 88 still drives but doesn’t drive after dusk for reasons discussed above. I too at 55 try to avoid driving out of town after dark. It’s being dazzled by the bright headlights of modern cars that foils me.

The issue of stupidly bright headlamps on modern cars is very much one which needs addressing, undeniably!

 

[cav1975]

I am in my late 60s, and my distance vision prescription at my last eye test was actually better than it was when I was 30. I am now legal to drive without glasses.
I do now need reading glasses though.

I’m in my early 70s. I was finding driving at night increasingly difficult in my late 60s, consequently I avoided doing it as much as possible. The glare from oncoming traffic was the main issue. Four years ago I had my cataracts removed and it amounted to a full reset of my vision. I’m also now approved for driving without glasses but have to have a DVLA specific eye check every three years. I think that is a fair compromise and welcome the proposals that I’ve heard for all older derives to have that test.

 

[cats_five]

Actually I'm half way there and already feel old :-P

Unfortunately we all make mistakes, regardless of age, just like this driver .

Yes. You are young, and at your age I never felt old. I still don't apart from my knees and some finger joints, and I'm well over 60. Yes, we all make mistakes and thinking someone at 60 is old might just be one!

 

[AlterEgo]

This incident is more akin to those situations where a motorist fails to comprehend a road layout and ends up facing the wrong way on a motorway; I don’t think anybody capable of doing that should be driving, either.

We are all capable of doing that. Understanding your own capacity for mistakes will help mitigate against them. "I would never make *that* mistake" is one of the least safe attitudes someone engaged in a safety related activity could have.

I drove -almost- into a brand new cycle lane in Greenwich once a couple of years ago. It doesn't make me a bad driver or one who doesn't deserve to be on the road. Having a humble and human approach to your own mistakes will make you a better driver.

 

[barringtoncem]

The Latest Which Magazine Has An Article On This Called Are dazzling car headlights getting worse ?

 

[m0ffy]

Headlight brightness is less of an issue than badly adjusted/aligned/non-dipped lights.

On the topic of driver vision - the hill I’m prepared to die on is that all drivers, regardless of age, should be required to have an eye test with a registered optician once every two years.