ACCIDENT AND CONVICTION RATES OF VISUALLY IMPAIRED HEAVY-VEHICLE OPERATORS

The study compared two-year accident and conviction rates of visually impaired heavy-vehicle operators (with Class 1 or 2 licensure) to those of a sample of visually nonimpaired heavy-vehicle operators. Nonimpaired drivers met current federal acuity standards (corrected acuity of 20/40 or better in both eyes) while impaired drivers had substandard static acuity and were assessed within either moderately (corrected acuity between 20/40 and 20/200 in the worse eye, 20/40 or better in the other) or severely (corrected acuity worse than 20/200 Snellen in the worse eye) impaired subgroups. Visually impaired drivers had significantly more total accidents (37.15%) and convictions (48.38%) than did the nonimpaired drivers. These findings lead to qualified support for the current federal standard, particularly regarding the severly impaired, with less support of its application regarding the moderately impaired heavy-vehicle operator.