Bill Text: VA HB445 | 2010 | Regular Session | Prefiled
Bill Title: DMV eye exams; allows greater flexibility assessing applicants' and licensees' horizontal vision.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2010-03-01 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0018) [HB445 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2010-HB445-Prefiled.html
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10102979D Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia: 1. That §§46.2-311 and 46.2-312 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows: §46.2-311. Persons having defective vision; minimum standards of visual acuity and field of vision; tests of vision. A. The Department shall not issue a driver's license or learner's permit (i) to any person unless he demonstrates a visual acuity of at least 20/40 in one or both eyes with or without corrective lenses or (ii) to any such person unless he demonstrates at least a field of 100 degrees of horizontal vision in one or both eyes or a comparable measurement that demonstrates a visual field within this range. However, a license permitting the driving of motor vehicles during a period beginning one-half hour after sunrise and ending one-half hour before sunset, may be issued to a person who demonstrates a visual acuity of at least 20/70 in one or both eyes without or with corrective lenses provided he demonstrates at least a field of seventy degrees of horizontal vision or a comparable measurement that demonstrates a visual field within this range, and further provided that if such person has vision in one eye only, he demonstrates at least a field of forty degrees temporal and thirty degrees nasal horizontal vision or a comparable measurement that demonstrates a visual field within this range. B. The Department shall not issue a driver's license or learner's permit to any person authorizing the driving of a commercial motor vehicle as defined in the Virginia Commercial Driver's License Act (§ 46.2-341.1 et seq.) unless he demonstrates a visual acuity of at least 20/40 in each eye and at least a field of 140 degrees of horizontal vision or a comparable measurement that demonstrates a visual field within this range. C. Every person applying to renew a driver's license and required to be reexamined as a prerequisite to the renewal of the license, shall: 1. Appear before a license examiner of the Department to demonstrate his visual acuity and horizontal field of vision, or 2. Accompany his application with a report of such examination made within ninety days prior thereto by an ophthalmologist or optometrist. D. The test of horizontal visual fields made by license examiners of the Department shall be performed at thirty-three and one-third centimeters with a ten millimeter round white test object or may, at the discretion of the Commissioner, be performed with electronic or other devices designed for the purpose of testing visual acuity and horizontal field of vision. The report of examination of visual acuity and horizontal field of vision made by an ophthalmologist or optometrist shall have precedence over an examination made by a license examiner of the Department in administrative determination as to the issuance of a license to drive. Any such report may, in the discretion of the Commissioner, be referred to a medical advisory board or to the State Health Commissioner for evaluation. E. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection B of this section, any person who is licensed to drive any motor vehicle may, on special application to the Department, be licensed to drive any vehicle, provided the operation of the vehicle would not unduly endanger the public safety, as determined by the Commissioner pursuant to regulations established by the Department. §46.2-312. Persons using bioptic telescopic lenses. A. Persons using bioptic telescopic lenses shall be eligible for driver's licenses if they: 1. Demonstrate a visual acuity of at least 20/200 in one or both eyes and a field of seventy degrees horizontal vision without or with corrective carrier lenses or a comparable measurement that demonstrates a visual field within this range, or if these persons have vision in one eye only, they demonstrate a field of at least forty degrees temporal and thirty degrees nasal horizontal vision or a comparable measurement that demonstrates a visual field within this range; 2. Demonstrate a visual acuity of at least 20/70 in one or both eyes with the bioptic telescopic lenses and without the use of field expanders; 3. Meet all other criteria for licensure; 4. Accompany the license application with a report of examination by an ophthalmologist or optometrist on a form prescribed by the Department for evaluation by the Medical Advisory Board. B. Persons using bioptic telescopic lenses shall be eligible for learner's permits issued under §46.2-335 provided they first meet the requirements of subsection A of this section, except for that part of the examination requiring the applicant to drive a motor vehicle. C. Persons using bioptic telescopic lenses shall be subject to the following restrictions: 1. They shall not be eligible for any of the driver's license endorsements provided for in §46.2-328; 2. Their driver's licenses shall permit the operation of motor vehicles only during the period beginning one-half hour after sunrise and ending one-half hour before sunset. D. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision C 2 of this section, persons using bioptic telescopic lenses may be licensed to drive motor vehicles between one-half hour before sunset and one-half hour after sunrise if they: 1. Demonstrate a visual acuity of at least 20/40 in one or both eyes with the bioptic telescopic lenses and without the use of field expanders; 2. Have been licensed under subsection C of this section for at least one year; and 3. Pass a skills test taken at night. |
