Report of Workshop 1 “Vision and perceptual deficiencies as a risk factor in traffic safety” : IMMORTAL (Impaired Motorists, Methods of Roadside Testing and Assessment for Licensing) Deliverable P4.1 + Appendix (workshop presentations).

The purpose of the workshop was to give a broad introduction to the state-of-the-art related to visual and perceptual problems in traffic and to focus on new research results on selected topics of interest for the research community and decision makers. The different presentations gave a broad picture of the topics and the main conclusions from the workshop in Trondheim are: a) We need more knowledge to tell what the most important problems are. b) The rules for vision-related driving licensing requirements need to be harmonised, but at this stage, the research evidence is not sufficiently clear to warrant specific recommendations. Research topics: • It is necessary to make an overview of impairment variations, within the same diagnoses. • There is also a need for knowledge on different kind of available methods for testing visual field diseases; 1) specific, and 2) general and global. • This includes recommendations to which test is adequate to what kind of problem. • To make this problem possible to solve for the actual driver and his/her nearest family, it is necessary to get more knowledge about the possibility to identify symptoms without being an expert. • How do visual impairments correlate with other medical problems, specially related to age? And how do we deal with this as a legal problem? • One study indicates that night vision problems increase the accident risk. With more elderly drivers it is important to verify if this is a problem or not. There is also a lack of test methods on this topic. • What is the cost/benefit concerning various driver licensing requirements related to vision. Prevalence, relative risk, cost for society. • A new test for measuring glare straylight is promising, but it needs to be further developed before it can become common practice. • The problems with night vision and glare for people being operated for vision impairment (laser operation)? Pilot studies: surgery, cataract, diabetes. Copilots: wife giving directions. Further information about IMMORTAL can be found on the website see http://www.immortal.or.at/ (Author/publisher)