More than 600 drivers' licences revoked after failed vision tests

Following the introduction of new police powers, more than 600 motorists have had their licences revoked for failing eyesight tests at the roadside since 2013.

Figures sourced through a Freedom of Information request by the Press Association found that UK police forces had applied to revoke drivers' licences 631 times since 2013 after motorists failed to read a number plate from the legal minimum distance, with 609 of these occasions seeing licences successfully revoked.

This comes after a 16-year-old girl, Cassie McCord, was killed by an 87-year-old driver in 2011 as motorist Colin Horsfall lost control of his vehicle and mounted a kerb in Essex just days after failing a police vision test. The teenager died after sustaining serious head injuries in the incident with the elderly driver, who was allowed to continue driving after the police eyesight test thanks to a legal loophole.

Three days before Cassie was killed, Essex police spent two hours attempting to persuade Horsfall to give up driving after being involved in a collision and failing a vision test. However, at the time officers were unable to immediately suspend his licence.

Following the fatal crash, Cassie's mother Jackie Rason launched a campaign to change the law on taking away licences of drivers whose eyesight doesn't meet the legal minimum requirements, which sees the Driver and Vehicle Leasing Authority (DVLA) being able to revoke driving licences more quickly than before.

New rules mean that officers are able to request urgent revocation of a licence, which now happens within 48 hours.