‘Drivers should get random eye checks’

Drivers should be randomly stopped and given eyesight checks to tackle so-called ‘looked but didn’t see’ crashes, the Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) has said.

The motorcycle lobby group made its proposal after MCN revealed Sussex Police’s approach was to stop riders for not wearing hi-vis clothing.

In a letter to the force, MAG President Ian Mutch says the benefit of hi-vis clothing is unproven and suggests ‘operation spectacle’ instead. 

The letter says: ‘MAG is uncomfortable with the implicit suggestion that riders are partially to blame when involved in accidents with motorists who claim not to have seen them.

‘MAG has a philosophic commitment to free choice over the clothing style and standards which riders adopt, and so we view any attempt to coerce riders into a code of clothing conduct as worrying… 

‘I wonder in conclusion if you would consider an operation that involves stopping motorists for random roadside eyesight checks? Operation spectacle perhaps?’

MCN is awaiting a response from Sussex Police.

In September, 10,000 MCN readers joined our rally to Reclaim North Wales from heavy handed police.’

Should Sussex be next? Add your comment below.