Driving and Eyesight Requirements

If you require glasses in order to meet the requirements for driving legally, then you must ensure that you wear them whilst you drive (or corrective lenses).

There are some conditions that you need to let the DVLA know about when you apply for your driving licence - a condition that affects both eyes, other than short/longsightedness or colour blindness, or any visual condition that affects your sight.

When applying for a provisional licence you should declare if you've just had sight correction surgery.

The requirement that will be tested before the practical test commences is to read a number plate on a stationary vehicle. The distance requirement is 20.5 metres, with new style number plates it is 20m.

There is a procedure in place such that if you can't read the first number plate, you are asked to read a second number plate, and if you can't read that you can walk up to the appropriate distance away. You get a third chance and on this occasion the distance will be marked precisely by the examiner.

Related Articles...

driving theory test
Hazard Perception
There has been a significant increase in the focus of hazard perception and hazard awareness in the last few years since the introduction by the DSA of a separate hazard perception element to the...

Staying calm in your driving test
There is no doubt that many people get extremely nervous before the driving practical test, and whilst this can be frustrating or disconcerting, it is not necessarily a bad thing. Many people...

Testing your driving ability
The driving part of the test to assess if you are safe to let on the roads is called the practical test, and it lasts in the region of 40 minutes in total. The purpose is to assess if you can drive...

Tips on braking on snow and ice
Braking on snow and ice takes a lot longer than it does on a normal road in ordinary conditions. But you might be very surprised at how long it can take. Infact tests have shown that it can...

Selecting low gears when driving
When you are driving, you will just learn to change gears without really thinking about what you are doing and when. But generally you will change up gears the faster you are going, and this is...

Driving Theory Centres
Finding the nearest driving theory centre to you is easy as the government makes this information available to you online. There is a website that enables you to find the nearest driving...

What to expect at a hazard perception test
The test has fourteen different clips, as outlined in the article entitled 'how to pass the hazard perception test'. Each of those clips starts counting down from ten to zero, in order to...

Prepare for driving theory tests
In order to pass tests, whether they are academic tests at school such as english, geography, spanish, french and so on, or to pass some other one - like theory tests - the methodology that can be...

What to do at a roundabout
Roundabouts come in all shapes and sizes, but the basic rules that govern roundabouts are simple. However that doesn't stop people interpreting the rules and indicating and lines in all sorts...

Regular car checks to perform
In addition to the daily checks that you should perform on core elements of your car such as the tyres (see article entitled 'what to check on your car daily') there are various other elements that...


Back to home page of driving theory test questions