"NEWS photo Terry Peters

OPTOMETRISTS agree that speed kills. The faster you drive your car the more your vision is impaired. Slower speeds and
periodic breaks from driving are advised to avoid accidents.

Slow driving saves lives

“THE FASTER you drive, the poorer your visual
abilities are,’’ says Dr. James E. Beckner, Presi-

dent
(BCOA).

“At 100 km per hour a
-driver’s field of vision nar-
rows to 25 per cent of its
normal capacity of 180°,”
said Beckner.

“Vision naturally focuses
on the area
ahead, shifting to a arrower
“iarget as speed ‘increases.
This is known as the bullseye
_effect.”” The result isa loss
of much of the. side, or pe-
ripheral,’ vision needed’ to
detect roadside hazards, in-
tersection activity, pedestri-
ans, etc.

: Since increased speed
’ forces the focus of attention
forward, drivers with poorer

immediately:

of the B.C. Optometric Association

visual acuity are particularly
vulnerable, said Beckner. At
10 km per hr a driver with
20/20 vision has about 3.2
seconds to see, read, and
react to a sign with !2 cm
letters. A-driver with 20/40
only has half the time, 1.6

seconds, to read the sign

because he must be closer to
read it.

_MUST BE CLOSER

To make matters worse,
said Beckner, for every 10
km per hour, even if vision
is normally 20/20, a driver
must be 3.75 metres closer to

an object before seeing it.
For example, a person driv-
ing 100 km per hr through a
60 km per hr speed zone will
not see a sign (or perhaps a
pedestrian) until he is 15
metres closer.than a driver
travelling at the speed limit.
Higher speed and reduced
visual ability combine to
create a situation of double
jeopardy.
BORED VISION

“Depth perception also
suffers at increased speeds,
making it harder to deter-
mine distance when overtak-
ing another car or looking
for intersections or freeway
exits,’’ said Beckner.

One reason for this is the
loss of subtle discrimination
between what the right and
left eyes see beyond about 25

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metres. In a way, vision can
even become bored since the
bullseye effect, i.e.
monotonous, restricted eye
movements aimed at a point
far ahead, can cause visual
fatigue. Ability to correctly
interpret what’s ahead may
be impaired. Slower speeds
and periodic breaks from
driving are advised. ©

The B.C. Optometric
Association has been en-
couraging drivers to use
daytime running lights for
the past year to increase
visibility and decrease acci-
dents. But above all, since
vision is such an important
part of driving, the BCOA

suggests that all drivers be -

sure their vision is in good
shape and respect the visual
limitations of increased
speed.

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