Are You Visually Impaired ?

Idris Pata is my official driver. He has been my driver for more than three years since 2015. Although I am licensed to drive, and daily wish I am allowed to drive myself because of my passion for driving, I am officially not allowed to drive my official car but to be chauffeured by him. In 2016, while conducting a compulsory health programme for stakeholders, I made him to undergo an eye examination to ensure that he was not visually impaired. The result according to my colleague Dr Nonye Okere, a qualified optometrist attached to the Zonal Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps in Port Harcourt, Rivers State was good. I do not know what your story is; if like me, you are a licensed driver but officially you are most often chauffeured to and fro work because of the demand of your schedule and your position where you work. I know that in our clime, it is the vogue for some to be chauffeured even if it is in a rickety taxi with worn out tyres and cracked windshield.

So when was the last time you did a routine to confirm how far and wide you can see and also what your field of view is? Have you even bothered to ensure your chauffer undergoes the same kind of routine? These were some of the rhetorical posers thrown at us when on the 9th of October 2018; we listened to tales of drivers who had one visual impairment or the other. I have chosen to guide your thoughts and choices by sharing these stories hoping you will take a cue and detour from the path which a handful of road users take as they rarely undergo eye examination to ascertain their status. The first story was that of Timothy Obiaekwe(not real name), a 51 years old Nigerian who lives in the United States of America. During a visit to the country, Tim as he is fondly called by his close friends went for a routine eye check. The result was so bad that the doctor who handled the examination, out of curiosity asked him if he drives. The doctor was shocked when Tim responded that although he drives in Nigeria whenever he visits, he dare not do the same in the United States where he lives and works because of the illegality of doing so. The second story was that of a 49 ambulance driver named Musa Inusa (not real name) whose predicament was observed by a caring specialist who out of concern brought it to the attention of her superiors. The routine examination conducted revealed that Musa had tunnel vision. My last story for this week was that involving an expatriate who brought a driver who had been driving a high profile Consulate Officer for about 24years.The driver like the other two was brought for a routine check after he was involved in two separate road traffic crashes whose frequency created panic among top officials at the Consulate. The result of his own check revealed he had advanced glaucoma.

If you are startled by these stories, I dare you to drag your driver or even yourself for a routine check to see whether you are one of the blind drivers on Nigerian roads. Such a check will reveal why drivers like you who are visually impaired are quick to tell you when they are involved in a road traffic crash that they did not see the oncoming vehicle.The level of visual impairment among drivers is contained in a study conducted by the Association in collaboration with the Federal Road Safety Corps and other partners. The report in its introduction notes the importance of sight in perceiving light, colour and depth of objects and particularly for discerning obstacles and navigation while driving. The survey involved a total of 3508 respondents from 28 out of the 37 states of the country. Although drivers involved in the survey had many years of driving experience, with the average being 20years, nearly half of the drivers (46.5percent) have never had their eyes examined by an eye specialist. For those who did, about one in four (25) percent did so within one to two years before the survey while about 10percent did so more than five years ago. About 52.5 percent of drivers said they have never visited an eye specialist while about one third (29.4) percent of drivers have worn glasses mostly for seeing far. Now I need to reserve the other details contained in this commendable survey which I believe will no doubt cause a change in the driving culture in the country especially with respect to reducing the the current state of impairment among drivers.

Like I stated earlier, I got these revelations when the Nigerian Optometric Association led by its national President, Dr Okonkhua Ozy paid a visit to the Corps Marshal as a prelude to the 2018 World Sight Day whose theme I deliberately refused to focus on last week. For the sake of those who may be too curious, the theme for this year is EyeCare, Everywhere. Dr Okonokhua Ozy is one of the numerous Optometrist in the country who are rarely sought after by drivers until it gets really bad. On the 9th of October, I was privileged to accompany Deputy Corps Marshal, Charles Theophilus to receive him with his team of optometrists on behalf of the Corps Marshal,Boboye Oyeyemi. The point man of the Association was clear on why they came visiting ,noting that the visit is to further strengthen partnership with the Corps .He observed that the theme for 2018 is apt the importance of vision for driving. He said they have noted the high rate of visual impairment amongst licensed drivers and would like to collaborate with the Corps to identify those with any form of visual impairment during prelicensing tests in recognized centers to ensure that only those good visual acuity or best corrected visual acuity are licensed to drive as is done globally.