The roadside eyesight test and DVLA medical revocation

Checked 22 July 2026 · How we check our figures

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What it is

An officer who suspects a driver cannot meet the eyesight standard can require a reading of a registration plate at the roadside, s. 96 RTA 1988; known to most simply as the number plate test. Behind it sits the fuller standard of reg 72 of the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations 1999: 20 metres for a current plate, Snellen 6/12 with both eyes or the only eye, an adequate field of vision, and stricter marks for lorry and bus licences. What the roadside moment hides is the machinery it can start: since 2013 the police can ask the DVLA for an urgent revocation the same day, the practice known as Cassie's Law, and the licence then ends by administration, not by a court (gov.uk, driving eyesight rules, checked 2026-07-22).

Reading the notice

A revocation letter from the DVLA usually names the ground, eyesight or a medical condition, and the date from which driving must stop; from that date, driving is a separate offence with its own code, /fines/codes/lc50 (s. 94A RTA 1988).

A DVLA medical enquiry letter works from the A to Z at gov.uk/health-conditions-and-driving: the duty to notify sits with the driver, the assessment sits with the DVLA (gov.uk).

The plate detail matters at the roadside: 20 metres for plates in the current style, 20.5 metres for the older, wider-lettered plates made before September 2001 (reg 72, Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations 1999).

The decision in front of you

Take the test when required: refusing is its own offence with its own code and 3 points, /fines/codes/ms80, while passing closes the roadside question (s. 96 RTA 1988).

Reapply with evidence after a revocation: the way back is proof, not the passage of time, an optician's confirmation of the 6/12 standard and the plate test, with a DVSA eyesight check in the practical route where the DVLA requires one; the revocation is administrative, so the cure is administrative too.

Answer a medical enquiry and notify what the A to Z lists: not telling the DVLA about a notifiable condition carries a fine of up to 1,000 pounds and prosecution risk after an accident, /fines/codes/lc40 (gov.uk, checked 2026-07-22); the honest answer is also the insurance anchor, since CIDRA 2012 governs what a policyholder must take care over when insurers ask.

Do nothing after a revocation letter and every mile is driven on a licence that no longer exists: /fines/codes/lc50 territory, with the insurance offence typically stacking on top of it, the no insurance guide.

What happens next

The Cassie's Law route runs as practice, not statute: the officer applies, the DVLA reviews urgently, and the revocation can land the same day; it exists because a fail at the roadside once left days of lawful driving in between (DVLA practice, reported since 2013).

Reapplication is the main road back; a court route against the DVLA's decision exists alongside it, argued on the decision being wrong.

Where the roadside fail is prosecuted, the offence is driving with uncorrected defective eyesight, 3 points flat and a fine, with the 4 year clock from the offence date, /fines/codes/ms70 (s. 96 RTA 1988).

The numbers

The standard: a current-style plate at 20 metres, the pre-September 2001 style at 20.5, and acuity of at least Snellen 6/12, decimal 0.5 (reg 72, Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations 1999; gov.uk, checked 2026-07-22).

The eyesight offences: 3 points each for failing to meet the standard or refusing the test, with a fine on top (s. 96 RTA 1988); the code detail lives at /fines/codes/ms70 and /fines/codes/ms80.

The notification offence: a fine of up to 1,000 pounds for not telling the DVLA about a notifiable condition, and prosecution risk if an accident follows (gov.uk, checked 2026-07-22).

The deadlines

A revocation takes effect from the date in the letter, and under the Cassie's Law practice that can be the day of the roadside fail (DVLA practice, reported since 2013).

The duty to notify bites when a notifiable condition is diagnosed or worsens, not at the next renewal, which for most photocard licences can be up to 10 years away (gov.uk).

Reapplication has no waiting period of its own: the clock is the evidence, the 6/12 confirmation and the plate test, however long those take.

What people get wrong

Confusing corrected with uncorrected: the standard is met with glasses or lenses worn, and a driver who passes only with them must wear them at the wheel; driving without them is exactly what /fines/codes/ms70 punishes.

Saving the news for renewal: the notification duty starts with the diagnosis, and the gap between knowing and telling is where the 1,000 pound fine and the post-accident prosecution live (gov.uk).

Driving on after the letter, just locally, just briefly: each trip is /fines/codes/lc50 plus, on the terms of almost any policy, driving uninsured, two offences a journey, and the insurance side alone carries 6 points.

Authority

s. 96 and ss. 92 to 94A Road Traffic Act 1988; reg 72, Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations 1999 (SI 1999/2864); gov.uk, driving eyesight rules; gov.uk, health conditions and driving; Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012