Introduction and objective:
A reduction in the visual acuity of drivers increases the probability of dangerous traffic incidents. The incidence of refractive errors and eye diseases increases with age. There are legal vision requirements specifying the minimum visual acuity, which determine the possibility for the granting of driving licenses; however, the regulations currently in force in Poland do not require performing periodic medical examinations of non-professional drivers. The aim of the study was to determine visual acuity in the group of non-professional drivers with a Category B driving license, and to assess whether it meets the criteria resulting from the applicable legal regulations.

Material and methods:
Visual acuity was assessed in a group of 376 drivers (45 females, 331 males; mean age 56.8±8.6) who were referred for medical check-up in the administrative procedure. It was determined whether the measured visual acuity met the criterion (binocular vision minimum 0.5) with or without optical correction. In cases where the criterion was not met it was assessed whether the optical correction allowed for the improvement of visual acuity.

Results:
In the studied group, 92.8% of drivers met the criterion of visual acuity, including 22% with optical correction; 27 (7.2%) did not meet the criterion and were not aware of that fact: for 24 persons it was possible to improve visual acuity and meet the criterion by using an eyeglass correction and for 3 there was no such possibility due to organic eye diseases.

Conclusions:
In some examined drivers visual acuity did not meet the applicable criteria. Age-related deterioration of visual acuity either remains unnoticed or is ignored. The introduction of periodic visual acuity examinations for drivers would allow the detection of such cases and implementation of measures that might improve road safety.