“You’re literally playing with somebody’s life”: Daughter of cyclist killed by “reckless and foolish” elderly motorist with poor eyesight renews calls for mandatory driver eye tests

The daughter of a cyclist killed in a crash with an 82-year-old motorist who didn’t meet the legal eyesight standard has renewed calls for making eye tests a mandatory requirement for drivers and replacing the current criteria, which she described as a “tick-box exercise”.

Jim Tassel, 70, was on one of his regular bike rides along the B3400, between Andover Down and Hurstbourne Priors on July 23 2021, when Peter Gardner drove into the back of him, catapulting him two metres into the air. Tassell was rushed to Southampton General Hospital by air ambulance but died five days later.

Gardner was subsequently sentenced to six months in prison for causing death by careless driving in September 2022, with the court hearing that he could only read a number plate at three metres as opposed to the regulated 20 metres.

The judge in his sentencing remarked: “It must have been obvious to you you were not seeing things as you should. You have brought devastation, misery and despair upon the Tassell family. I have heard from Jim's widow and two children - who you have robbed of their husband and father - tearing a hole in their family.

“You, and you alone, have to live with that responsibility for the rest of your life. It seems to me that your recklessness and foolishness are quite obvious when you weren't seeing properly.

“Nothing I can say can ever turn the clock back and bring Jim back to his family. It seems to me that your carelessness and lack of concern about your failing eyesight is something that has got to be punished. It seems to me that your conduct has got to be marked by a prison sentence and that an immediate sentence of imprisonment is appropriate.”

> Driver who killed cyclist could not read number plate three metres away

Mr Tassell’s daughter Emma Damen had previously urged that eye tests be compulsory for older drivers, but has now once again reiterated those calls so that no one else has to go through what she and her family did.

She said: “You’re literally playing with somebody’s life. If you know your eyesight is poor, go and get it checked, because if you don’t you could do to a family what’s happened to us.

“We’ve been devastated by what’s happened to us because somebody made that choice, to continue driving knowing that their eyesight was so poor.”

Currently, drivers are required to read a car number plate from 20m away, using glasses or contact lenses if necessary, during their practical driving test. However, this is only at the time of the first test, and once a driving licence has been issued, drivers are only required to fulfil a self-assessment.

This means that although drivers aged over 70 have to renew their licence once every three years, they don’t undergo any tests to certify that their eyesight meets the legal standard.

> Driver who failed roadside eyesight test given suspended sentence for killing cyclist returning home from cycling club ride

“So at the moment, it’s a tick box, you tick a box to say ‘I’m fit and healthy to drive’, and that’s it,” Emma added. “There’s no checking of that, it is a choice, and my dad paid the ultimate price for that choice.

“The thought of this happening to any other family just fills me with horror. My dad was a true true gentleman, a really nice guy. The ultimate family guy. He was the best dad.”

The Andover Advertiser reports that the Association of Optometrists is also advocating for tighter regulations, suggesting that drivers should be required to produce evidence to prove they meet the legal eyesight requirements when renewing their licence.

Chief executive Adam Sampson described the current eyesight standard as outdated and added that it was introduced in 1938 and has remained unchanged since. He said: “All you've got to do is to demonstrate you can see a number plate when you're 17 or 18 and you qualify to drive.

“After that, you simply self-certify to the DVLA, all the way through, that you've still got the eyesight capable of seeing.

“We’re seeing more and more cases of particularly elderly people with poor eyesight fatally injuring pedestrians and other road users simply because they can't see.

“So we're calling for the law to be changed and requiring people to produce evidence, so when they say they can see, they actually can.”

> Delivery driver who hit cyclist and blamed low sun found not guilty of causing death by careless driving

A recent survey by the Association of Optometrists found that almost six in 10 optometrists have seen a patient in the last month who continues to get behind the wheel, despite their vision being below the legal standard.

A spokesperson for the Department for Transport told ITV News: “Every death on our roads is a tragedy, and our thoughts remain with the families of everyone who has lost a loved one in this way.

“The NHS recommends adults should have their eyes tested every two years, and while we do not have plans to change eyesight requirements for driving, we continue to explore ways to improve road safety.”

In June this year, an elderly driver whose eyesight was not good enough to be on the road was banned from driving for five years, ordered to pay £2,000 and sentenced to a suspended five-month prison sentence having pleaded guilty to causing the death by careless driving of a cyclist in Rotherham.

The cyclist had been socialising with fellow members of his cycling club at a local pub before leaving to ride home. James Wardle, aged 83, and his wife had been driving back from Rotherham Hospital in the same direction when the motorist struck the cyclist from behind having failed to spot him in the road. 

When officers arrived, Wardle failed a roadside eyesight test and was unable to read a number plate at a distance of 20 metres. It was later discovered that he had degenerative eyesight problems that had played a part in the collision, a medical issue that was undiagnosed prior to Glyn Straw’s death.