Evening star., 1936-08-30

of the Optometric Research Institute
of Michigan.
DR.. Adams reported latest findings
of highway safety research in THIS
field to L. G. Peed, an automobile
executive, when eye experts visited
the plant during their session. The
optometrists inspected the latest opti-
cal devices in use on the assembly
line to provide accurate focus for
safe-vision headlamps.
Contributions toward eliminating
headlight glare deserves the COM
mendation of every professional group
now working to correct the causes Of
Americas excessive trafflc toll" DR..
Adams told Mr.. Peed. Fatigue from
glare is one Of the six most common
defects of vision contributing to motor
accidents.
1T also aggravates other abnor-
malities of vision which, during the
day, may be so slight that the indi-
vidual goes through life totally un-
aware of his fault. These are the
dangerous ones. Persons who are
conscious of visual defects and take
steps to correct them are much safer
drivers than those who think their
vision perfect when it isn't.
The other five optical conditions
most commonly leading to accidents
may be listed, in the order Of their
frequency, as:
Near -sightedneSs, or myopia, In
which objects close at hand may be
seen clearly, but all distant objects
are out of focus and can be seen only
dimly, if at all.
"Astigmatism. in which the driver s
eyes are incapable of sharp focus at
any point, and all objects, regardless
of distance, appear indistinct or dis
torted.
Weak muscular coordination OF
the eyes, which interferes with proper
depth perception or stereopsas, and
gives the driver a misleading impress
sion of distances.
"Far-sightedness in which the con-
stant effort to compensate and shorten
focus by muscular effort results in
serious nervous strain and abnormal
fatigue. This, in turn, slows up CO.
ordination and leads to lapses of at
tention and drowsiness. When IA
tigued, such eyes may even see double,
adding still further confusion between
the real image and the apparent one.
The consequent chances of accident
may be imagined.
"'Gun-barrel vision caused by
pathological conditions such as glau-
coma or scotomas, which construct the
field Of vision or create blind areas.
In these cases, it is like looking
through q tube; central objects can
be seen clearly. but objects at the
side appear indistinct or remain in
visible
approximately so per cent Of the
population suffers some visual defect
in varying degree. Perfect vision
means more than the ability to read
letters on q car at certain distance.
Speed Is involved. too: normal speed
of fixation, or aiming speed OF
focusing, and stereopsis, or proper
sense of relative distance"
DIR. Adams recently led experiments
in city traffic with cameras equipped
with special lenses. which duplicate
the impressions of persons having
common visual faults The photo
graphs vividly demonstrate such
drivers liability to accidents of GER
tain type in everyday traffic situ-
ations.
Color blind persons, DR.. Adams
said, distinguish between red and
green traffic lights by their different
shades of grayness. Unfortunately,
he pointed out, traffic officials some
times place the red light on top and
in other places the green, making it
necessary for the color-blind to
memorize the location of lights
wherever they drive frequently.