A coroner called Britain’s licensing system the laxest in Europe. With a government consultation now open until May 2026, the question of what happens to six million older drivers on British roads is far from settled.
Glyn Jones could not see his own steering wheel. He had known this for years. His GP had told him. His optician had told him, repeatedly, for more than a decade. A diagnosis of keratoconus — a progressive eye condition — had left his vision well below the legal standard required to drive. He continued to declare himself fit on every DVLA renewal form.
In November 2021, Jones drove his Audi A3 into Marie Cunningham, 79, and Grace Foulds, 85, as the two friends crossed a road in Southport. They died from their injuries that same day. He was later jailed for seven years and four months.
That case, alongside two others involving similarly wilful disregard for failing vision, was examined at a joint inquest in Preston in April 2025. What emerged was not just a verdict on three drivers, but a formal legal judgment on the UK’s approach to driving licence rules for older motorists — and a direct challenge sent to the government’s desk.
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What the Current Driving Licence Rules Say for Over-70s
In Great Britain, a driving licence expires at the age of 70. Drivers must then renew every three years for the rest of their driving life. The renewal process requires one thing above all else: a self-declaration.
Drivers confirm they meet the minimum eyesight standard and declare any relevant medical conditions to the DVLA. No formal test by a qualified optician is required. No in-person assessment of any kind takes place. The legal eyesight standard itself is rooted in the Road Traffic Act 1937. For most British drivers, the only formal vision test they ever complete is on the day of their original driving test at 17 — reading a number plate from 20 metres away.
That is the system that allowed Glyn Jones to remain on the road.
The Inquest That Put the System Under Legal Scrutiny
HM Senior Coroner for Lancashire, Dr James Adeley, oversaw four separate road deaths in the same April 2025 hearing at Preston Coroner’s Court. Each driver had been warned by medical professionals to stop driving. None had.
Alongside Cunningham and Foulds, the inquest covered:
- Peter Westwell, 80 — struck by Neil Pemberton, 81, while crossing a road near Blackburn in March 2022. Pemberton had a documented history of eye disease and had been advised by multiple clinicians to stop driving. He was jailed for 32 months.
- Anne Ferguson, 75 — killed in Whitworth in July 2023. Driver Vernon Law, 72, had been told by an optometrist just one month before the crash that he had severe cataracts in both eyes. That optometrist described his condition as the worst they had seen in 23 years of practice. At the time of the crash, Law’s vision was functioning at 10% in his left eye and 20% in his right. Law had told the optometrist he did not drive. He was jailed for four years.
Anne Ferguson had been the full-time carer for her husband David, who relied entirely on her due to mobility problems, speech difficulties, and deteriorating sight. After Anne’s death, David was placed in a care home. He took his own life shortly afterwards.
Dr Adeley sent a formal Prevention of Future Deaths report to Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander. He called the UK’s system of driver vision standards “ineffective, unsafe and unfit to meet the needs of society.” He described Britain’s licensing regime as the laxest in Europe, noting the UK was one of only three countries relying entirely on driver self-reporting for vision conditions — and the only European country to issue licences without any visual check for the entire period up to age 70.
The inquest heard one further figure that defines the real scale of this problem: an estimated 2% of British drivers would currently fail the legal driving eyesight test. That works out to roughly 750,000 drivers on UK roads every single day with vision below the legal standard, or 4,250 unlawful journeys on the M25 alone, every 24 hours.
What Is Now Being Proposed for Older Driver Licence Renewals
In June 2025, the Department for Transport formally acknowledged the coroner’s report. On 7 January 2026, the government published its first national road safety strategy in more than a decade, alongside five simultaneous consultations. One focuses specifically on mandatory eyesight testing for drivers over 70.
What is under consideration:
- Replacing self-declaration with a formal eye test carried out by a qualified optician, required every three years from age 70
- Whether to set the starting age for mandatory testing younger than 70
- Whether the cost falls on the driver, the NHS, or is shared between both
The strategy also committed to developing options for cognitive assessments for older drivers as a longer-term measure, signalling that eyesight testing, if legislated, would be the first phase of a broader overhaul.
Local Transport Minister Lilian Greenwood, whose foreword appears in the consultation document, described the government’s aim as finding “the right balance between ensuring that older people can actively participate in society and retain their independence, whilst at the same time maintaining safe driving on the roads.”
The consultation deadline was extended on 16 February 2026 to 11:59pm on 11 May 2026. As of today, nothing has become law.
The Road Safety Statistics at the Centre of This Debate
| Over-70 licence holders in Great Britain (May 2025) | 6.3 million |
| Increase in over-70 licence holders since 2012 | Up 60% |
| Older driver killed or seriously injured (KSI) casualties in 2024 | 1,224 |
| Change in older driver KSI casualties since 2014 | Up 7% |
| Share of all car drivers killed aged 70 or over (2024) | 24% |
| NHS cost of road collisions in 2024 | £3 billion |
| Lost economic output from road collisions in 2024 | £6.9 billion |
Who Is Supporting the Drive for Stricter Rules
The AA, the RAC, the Association of Optometrists, Road Safety GB, and the College of Optometrists have all publicly backed the direction of the proposals. Research carried out by Opinium in November 2025 among 2,000 UK adults found seven in ten people support mandatory eye tests for drivers.
A separate 2024 AOP poll sharpened the case further: 29% of motorists said they would not stop driving even if a formal test confirmed their vision had fallen below the legal standard. Sixty-five percent of optometrists told the AOP they believe the DVLA’s current guidance is “dangerously out of date,” while 63% said it puts road users needlessly at risk.
The government’s own strategy acknowledged that 22 other European countries have made more progress in reducing road deaths than Britain — a figure the strategy’s foreword described as “a warning I won’t ignore.”
The Arguments That Complicate the Case
The push for stricter rules for elderly drivers is not universally accepted, and the counterarguments carry genuine weight.
Age UK Charity Director Caroline Abrahams gave a carefully measured response to the proposals. She accepted mandatory eye tests as “a sensible safeguard” but added a direct qualification: “the data suggests that poor eyesight among older drivers is not a leading cause” of road accidents, and warned against treating the measure as a substantial safety gain in itself.
The broader accident data adds context. Collisions involving drivers aged 17 to 24 produced 4,740 killed or seriously injured casualties in 2024, compared to 3,300 in crashes involving older drivers. Young drivers represent 6% of all licence holders but account for 24% of all fatal and serious collisions.
Research comparing Finland — which has required medical check-ups for drivers from age 70 since the 1990s — and Sweden, which has no such system, found no clear reduction in collision rates under the Finnish regime. Researchers also recorded higher fatality rates among older pedestrians in Finland, partly attributed to more older people stopping driving and becoming more exposed on foot.
For millions of older people living away from reliable public transport, a driving licence is how they reach medical appointments, buy food, and see family. The prospect of losing it is not abstract.
Legal analysts have further noted the proposals raise questions under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the Equality Act 2010, though both concerns would likely be weighed against the public safety justification in any formal challenge.
How Britain Compares Across Europe
| Country | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Portugal | Medical checks from age 40; every 2 years from 75 |
| Ireland | Yearly medical check from age 70 |
| Spain | Renewal with medical evidence every 5 years from age 65 |
| Italy | Medical test required from age 50 |
| Denmark | Medical test required at age 70 |
| Netherlands | Medical test required at age 75 |
| Germany | No mandatory federal testing |
| France | Licence valid for life (reform bill in parliament) |
| Great Britain | Self-declaration only — under consultation |
In October 2025, the European Parliament passed legislation requiring all EU member states to move toward 15-year licence validity periods with mandatory medical checks or self-assessment before renewal, ending the practice of lifelong licences across the bloc.
Where the Debate Stands Now
The consultation on mandatory eyesight testing for drivers over 70 closes on 11 May 2026. The government will publish a summary of responses and its formal reply after that date. Any legislative change will require a separate parliamentary process. Nothing in the current rules is different today from what it was when Glyn Jones, Neil Pemberton, and Vernon Law all renewed their licences.
That is the part of this debate that no amount of consultation language softens. Three drivers self-declared fitness to drive. All three had been told, by qualified professionals, that they were not fit to drive. The DVLA’s records confirmed no irregularity. The law was, technically, being followed.
Anne Ferguson’s husband outlived her by only months. The system that failed to stop Vernon Law remains in force for every over-70 driver renewing their licence in Great Britain today.
