If you are looking forward to your driving test, and you want to make sure that you are going to pass it the first time, then there is a lot that you need to be aware of in order for that to happen.
The truth is that it is not too hard to pass first time, as long as you are fully prepared and you know full well what is coming. Obviously, you will have been taking your lessons and you might even have passed your theory test already.
But there are extraneous things which you need to think about too if you want to make sure that you are going to pass your test the first time, and one of them is the subject of this article.
In recent times, there have been calls for a full eye test to be made part of the driving test. Although this hasn’t come into place yet, it could do so at any time in the future, and it is something that you will need to be aware of.
Let’s take a look at what you might want to think about in order to make sure that you are prepared for your driving test, and that your vision is as it should be in order to be able to drive safely on the roads.
Table of Contents
Regular Eye Check-Ups
As a normal part of looking after your health, you should ideally be having your eyes checked regularly anyway.
For one thing, a regular eye test will help to show up any early signs of some serious problems like glaucoma or even cancerous growths in the eye.
But it will also, of course, help you to ensure that your sight is as it should be, which is something that we all need to look into as much as possible along the way.
The general rule of thumb is that you should get your eyes tested every two years at least, or if you need glasses then every one year. That should be sufficient to help you keep on top of your eyesight, at least.
Be choosy about where you go to get your eye tests done. Bear in mind that the cheaper places are not always the best to go to, and that you won’t always be able to get the best results that way.
You want to be able to ultimately trust your optometrist, and if you can’t then you might feel that you don’t trust the results too much either.
All in all, getting a trustworthy regular eye test is a good idea. It will mean that there are no nasty surprises, should they suddenly introduce a full eye test to be made part of the driving test.
And it will mean that if you do need ocular help, you can get it before you carry on learning to drive – and certainly before you have to take the test itself. That is something that you will certainly want to think about before you go any further.
Getting Help
If it turns out that you do need to wear glasses, then you should make sure that you get them as soon as possible. If you need financial help there are ways to get it, but most of the time you will find that you can get a pair of glasses fairly cheap, especially if you are not overly attached to how they look aesthetically.
In any case, it is usually important to wear those glasses if you want to keep your vision from getting any worse – which could, in turn, be important as a part of ensuring that you can pass your test more smoothly.
When you get your glasses, make sure that they are suitable and that your vision looks right when you wear them. It is best to be clear about that upfront, just in case something is wrong with them.
Bear in mind that you might have to wear them all the time, or you might just have to wear them while performing specific tasks like driving. In any case, be sure to wear them when necessary to get what you need to out of them.
As long as you are wearing your glasses as necessary, you should be able to have no trouble with your driving test itself. But let’s look at that whole side of things in a little more detail now.
The Driving Test: What to Expect
It’s useful to know what you can expect on your driving test before you go, so that you can make the most of it and know what you will need to think about beforehand.
As we have been saying, you might need to take a full eye test in the future as a part of your driving test, but for now you are going to have to merely carry out a much more basic test.
At present, you will need to read out the licence plate on a parked vehicle at the start of your test. If you can do that, you will be able to continue the test.
If not, however, then the results can be severe. You won’t be allowed to continue the test, and the DVLA will revoke your licence. Clearly, you want to avoid that, which is why being prepared in the ways we have been saying here might be so important.
Standards Of Vision
In order to be able to drive legally, you need to be able to read a number plate from 20 metres away.
You also have to meet the minimum eyesight standard for driving by having a visual acuity of 0.5.
Your optometrist can tell you if you have this, of course, and the vast majority of people do. For lorry and bus drivers, the rules are slightly different, but the gist is the same.
As you can see, there is a lot to be aware of here if you want to make sure that you are going to pass your driving test.
