Have to get eyes tested for driving permit - what does it entail?

Sheesh. They aren't drilling holes in your head you know! 99% of it is reading a chart. 1% might be blowing a little air in your eyes to test surface pressure - glaucoma and all that. That's it.

Don't you have to sit an exam these days before your first licence? When I did this in Canada they had an eye chart there and they said "what's the bottom line you can read". Tick. Done. 30 seconds.

Guess that would be too obvious here? They still don't have a credit card driving licence here which is kinda painful...

murphhy wrote: »

Just tell em its for the permit....think you only need to be able to read line 3 or something...you'd want fairly poor eyesight to fail it

Yep, an eye test specifically for a driving permit is really only a matter of reading a chart. Many opticians do a reduced rate eye exam specifically for this because it's a five-minute test. Money for old rope.

Look, you're going to have to get your eyes tested some day. Of all physical exams you will get, this is the least invasive. As someone said, the most uncomfortable part is the puff of air on your eye. And even that's less uncomfortable than having someone blow in your eye.
After that the optician will look at your retinas. Sounds bad, but from your point of view he basically shines a light in your eye while you focus on not blinking.

At no point will anybody or anything touch your eyeball or even come close to touching around the eye area. An eye test mostly examines the visual ability of your eye, not the physical condition of it.

The rules for the driving test report have changed and it involves a bit more now than reading the chart but the good news is that you don't have to have the air puff test done.
You'll have to read the chart, each eye individually
You'll have to read a different chart that measures how you see contrast
you'll have a field test done - measures your peripheral vision - very NB for driving as you can imagine - you stick your head on a chin rest and look into a large machine and you have to click a button when you see a light.
Binocular vision assessment - this involves the optom having a good stare at how your eyes are moving together and then you look at various targets while wearing a filter of some sort.

There maybe an exam of the internal and external eye but usually only if the tests mentioned above show something that warrants further investigation.

That's it in a nutshell!

Foggles wrote: »

If you have had a thorough contact lens exam then it is usual to have your eye lids inverted.
The reason for this exam is because when you blink the inside of the eye lid rubs over the edge of the contact lens which can cause trouble on the back of the eye lid. The underside of the eye lid is also a good place to see sensitivity reactions to solution or CL material.
It sounds and feels weird having it done but it's neither sore nor painful, eh maybe a little uncomfortable.

Not part of the driving test screening though.

Thank you Foggles.

Medicine333, it looks as if it must be an awful weird optician you go to that doesn't give you a full and thorough check-up.