[Ophthalmological experiences with automobile drivers with inadequate vision]

A total of 369 ophthalmological practices were asked to report the number of patients seen within one test week who drove their cars but did not satisfy minimum legal requirements for diurnal visual acuity applicable for applicants for a West German Class 3 driver's license. There were 471 such patients. From this number it can be calculated that approximately 570 000 individuals (+/- 9%) drive cars in the Federal Republic of Germany with inadequate visual acuity. An analysis of the questionnaire produced the following results: Fifty percent of these patients are less than 62 years of age. The main cause of inadequate visual acuity is age. In younger drivers refractive errors were the prime cause and in most cases correction with glasses was possible. In older drivers the loss of acuity was mainly due to opacities of the lens which for the most part could not be corrected by spectacles. Two-thirds of the drivers with inadequate visual acuity consider their vision to be "sufficient" or "good" for driving; younger drivers are more self-critical than older ones. Only 31% of these drivers stopped driving at night of their own accord. As many as two-thirds of the drivers who consider their acuity to be "insufficient" drive their cars during darkness. The authors show that the findings in patients suffering from severe loss of visual acuity must in principle also be valid for patients with minor visual impairments who still meet the minimum legal requirements. This agrees well with published statistical investigations.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)