Hmm, will this prevent me from getting a racing licence?

[PTRACER]

When I was 5 or 6 years old, I noticed I have very poor vision in my right eye...I have a sort of black spot (more of a black line I suppose) that seems to impair my ability to read using that eye as it's blocking out half of the text. Driving with only that eye open is also very difficult, but I'm not long sighted or short sighted in that eye and I can see shapes and everything pretty well. I don't seem to have a problem with depth perception or anything like that.

I've only ever been to the opticians once and he seemed like he couldn't be bothered to investigate it, so at the moment, it's undiagnosed.

I drove karts between the ages of 11 and 16, got my Kart National B licence no problem at all when I was around 12, I drive on the road no problem, I've already driven the Formula Van Diemen (?) cars at Brands in a gift experience thing and a pukka VW Funcup car at a trackday at Donington Park.

I doubt there's any notes sections on the licence application form where I can mention all of this, but if my application is rejected, my dream will be over........

So, do you think this problem will affect my licence application? Anyone know any blind-in-one-eye racers?

[Piglet]

Have you seen your GP? Do you really mean you've only seen an optician once since you were small? Blimey, I'd be banging on the door of the surgery.

Without a diagnosis and the opinion of your GP, I can't see how you could fill in a licence application. And as you don't know what the problem is I don't really see how any one can advise you about whether it is a "dream breaker" or not.

What do the DVLA say about your road licence?

Get yourself to your GP pronto then worry about a race licence.

[MGDavid]

wot he said; and take the Licence application notes with you, show your GP the section about the eyesight requirements, he will conduct the standard test and you will know from the result whether you need to ask to be referred to a specialist for further diagnosis etc.

[Al Weyman]

Did'nt a well known racer who I won't mention, lose an eye during an accident preparing sheet metal on his car and had to give it up at the peak of his career? I would have thought the loss of one eye would be very detrimental in judging distances.

[JamesH]

I'm with the above - you should visit an opticians every couple of years at least. Probably more. It's not just eyesight they diagnose - but anything wrong at the back of the eye too. If you don't declare this sort of thing when applying for a licence (road or race) then you could be laying yourself open to some nasty legal problems if involved in an accident that could be blamed on eyesight issues.

And of course, you should really want to know what's wrong with your eyes!! There's no use pretending it's not there..and it could be a simple fix.

[Alan Cherry]

If I read the MSA forms correctly, your eyesight needs to be 6/6 ( 20/20 in old money ) but this can be corrected (with glasses etc ).
last medical I had, my own GP was off sick, so I had a test with another GP in the practise. He wasn't sure if my eyes were 6/6 so I went off to Boots Opticians at Bluewater, and went for the most thorough eyetest - photograph the retina etc etc - not expensive. It turned out that my eyesight was 6/6 without correction , but I could actually see more clearly with correction. I bought some glasses, but as my eyes are 6/6 without them, I have the option of wearing them or not. The opticians supplied a form which stated my eysight results, which I presented to my GP which he accepted, and completed my medical form. Basically, get down to the opticians, and see if you can meet the 6/6 requirement (even if you need glasses)

I am told ( any opticians on here shoot me down !) To drive on road 6/9 ( corrected) Race Licence 6/6 (corrected) fighter pilot 6/4 (uncorrected)

[terence]

PT,you will get an eye test when you do the race medical anyway.

[davyboy]

This is an interesting question. The late Vivion Daly, brother of ex-F1 driver Derek Daly, had only one eye. He had an Irish competition licence but raced in, and won, FF1600 and Formula Vauxhall Lotus races and championships in Ireland and the UK. Some of these were International Permit races as well.

Certainly worth mentioning if you feel you're being discriminated against on the basis of your disability.

[Rob29]

Originally Posted by davyboy

This is an interesting question. The late Vivion Daly, brother of ex-F1 driver Derek Daly, had only one eye. He had an Irish competition licence but raced in, and won, FF1600 and Formula Vauxhall Lotus races and championships in Ireland and the UK. Some of these were International Permit races as well.

Certainly worth mentioning if you feel you're being discriminated against on the basis of your disability.

I,d be suprised if a one eyed person could get a licence.I have always been told that I cannot drive-only fairly recently has a condition been identified-I have 2 eyes but they do not work in conjuction.

[Startline Ed]

Originally Posted by Alan Cherry

I am told ( any opticians on here shoot me down !) To drive on road 6/9 ( corrected) Race Licence 6/6 (corrected) fighter pilot 6/4 (uncorrected)

I was told by my optician that road legal eyesight is between 6/12 and 6/9 (corrected) which is due to the read numberplate at a set distance test.

[davyboy]

Originally Posted by Rob29

I,d be suprised if a one eyed person could get a licence.I have always been told that I cannot drive-only fairly recently has a condition been identified-I have 2 eyes but they do not work in conjuction.

I'm sorry, I just re-read my earlier post... a terrible turn of phrase. I meant to say he was blind in one eye. He definitely held a licence and was a very successful racing driver in karts and cars.

Some more on disabled drivers here.

http://tentenths.com/forum/showthrea...t=45675&page=2

[Rob29]

Originally Posted by davyboy

I'm sorry, I just re-read my earlier post... a terrible turn of phrase. I meant to say he was blind in one eye. He definitely held a licence and was a very successful racing driver in karts and cars.

Some more on disabled drivers here.

http://tentenths.com/forum/showthrea...t=45675&page=2

Guess that amounts to the same thing as far as this argument goes? I have always been told that you need 2 eyes linked in order to judge distances.Mine work alternately.First came to light when they did experiments with 3D TV for which you had to wear coloured glasses-all I ever saw was green or red tinted picture

[davyboy]

Rob, Vivion Daly was an incredibly good driver... and was able to hold his own against people like Mika Hakkinen, Allan McNish etc... For sure the absence of sight in one eye doesn't help you as a racing driver, but as demonstrated by Vivion, its no reason to withhold a licence.

Here's Viv at the FVL Euroseries race in Mondello back in the 1980s.

[Piglet]

It's a nice debate and there are people who manage well with sight in only one eye, but it's of no relevance to the OP until he gets a diagnosis and knows what the problem is.

I wouldn't like him to get the impression that it's OK for him not to disclose the problem because there are people with limited sight who race....

[davyboy]

Of course, this isn't something that should be concealed. But by the same token, its not something that should, on paper, rule out a person from competing.

[PTRACER]

Originally Posted by Piglet

Have you seen your GP? Do you really mean you've only seen an optician once since you were small? Blimey, I'd be banging on the door of the surgery.

I've never seen my GP about it, no. And I have only been to the opticians once, soon after passing my driving test when I was 18. He looked very closely at my eye for a minute or so, but said he couldn't see anything. I don't think he looked closely enough.

As I said, I've had this "problem" all my life and - as far as I know - it hasn't ever caused me any problems. I knew about it when I was in my first or second year of school and we had someone from the NHS come along and test everybody's eyesight and hearing to make sure we weren't defective and I lied when it came to testing my "bad" eye. I used the excuse, "I've forgotten what the letter is", which you can do when you're 5 years old. That was the first and only eye test I ever had until the age of 18 when I decided to finally go to the opticians to see if I needed glasses for short or long sightedness.

I would like to have it diagnosed and even fixed if it can be done, as if I ever lost sight in my good eye (for whatever reason), it would be pretty difficult to do anything at all, let alone race.

Should I wait for my medical before finding out what the problem is, or should I go to the opticians before my medical?

[davyboy]

Many GPs will refer you to an optician for an eye exam before signing your medical, so its best to go to the optician first. In any event, whether you decide to race or not, its a condition that you ought to have investigated, diagnosed and treated I would have thought.

[Al Weyman]

Sounds like the system has let you down if that was'nt diagnosed as a kid, go to the opticians first because apart from anything else the GP will want about a £100 for the medical so its best to know first if you have a problem.

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by PTRACER

I would like to have it diagnosed and even fixed if it can be done, as if I ever lost sight in my good eye (for whatever reason), it would be pretty difficult to do anything at all, let alone race.

Then WTF are you doing posting this on here, you should be going to an optician and your GP about it if you have no luck there. For all you know you could be missing things when you drive and be a danger to the rest of us.

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

Sounds like the system has let you down if that was'nt diagnosed as a kid, go to the opticians first because apart from anything else the GP will want about a £100 for the medical so its best to know first if you have a problem.

How can it be diagnosed if he has kept quiet about it all thses years?

[AU N EGL]

Medical / year physical exam ?

[davyboy]

Originally Posted by AU N EGL

Medical / year physical exam ?

Sadly, we don't do those kinds of things in Britain ! The government perfers to operate a reactive rather than a proactive national health service

[Piglet]

Go to either your GP or an optician, just go to SOMEONE and tell them the truth about what you see/don't see. Don't wait for your race medical.

I'm still amazed you didn't have an eye test between 5 and 18, why on earth not?

Presumably from your comments you failed to disclose this on your road licence application and to your car insurers? I'd suggest you get yourself seen ASAP and disclose the results to the DLVA/insurers if your GP believes the problem warrants it. You're clearly aware that there is something wrong and could find yourself in very deep **** if you cause an accident.

[Alan Cherry]

There's a Boots opticians in Romford at 12 The Liberty (wherever that is - I'm not an essex man). It's only open until 5:30, but Boots Opticians in Bluewater is open until 9:00 pm every night, and 8:00pm on saturdays. Eye test is £20 and a Retinal photograph is £10. You can book an appointment online.
It's probably going to be your cheapest expenditure if your'e going to go racing !

Alan

p.s. I had a dodgy ticker, and thought I might have trouble with a race licence - corresponded with the MSA, spoke to my doc, and no problem - not sure I want to push it as far as an int C with the stress ECG though!- but tell them the truth- trying to hide anything may only cause problems in the future !

[AU N EGL]

Originally Posted by davyboy

Sadly, we don't do those kinds of things in Britain ! The government perfers to operate a reactive rather than a proactive national health service

Not government, but your race sanctioning organization.

[PTRACER]

I can't help but feel I'm being treated a bit of an invalid for having one dodgy eye, especially with comments such as, "...you could be a danger to the rest of us"!!! I have been on the road for three years now, I'm self-employed and I use my car to drive to customers' houses and back, hence my road car racks up a lot of mileage. I've had my road licence for three years and touch wood, not even come close to being involved in an accident.

There's a Specsavers in Romford town centre, a mile or so away from me, I'll go there tomorrow morning.