But, it is not possible at this point to predict what an older individual's vision will actually be like under some of the more difficult conditions in daily life. He presented findings from a study which compared traffic accident rates between elderly drivers, and whether or not vision testing was required by individual states. Results showed that states requiring vision testing had lower rates of older driver fatalities. But the number of older drivers on the road didn't necessarily go down in those states. For many elderly, driving is the only way to get around.
Some regions are resistant to the idea of having the elderly undergo vision testing.
It may be that if vision testing is required, people take better care of their eyes and go to the eye doctor more, he said.