There are not few people who require glasses or contact lenses to see correctly, and even more so when it comes to driving. However, a significant proportion of these (it is estimated that one in eight drivers who need glasses does without them) take the car in the same way, perhaps without knowing what the consequences are. Of course, this is illegal and you can get, as an offender, you are sanctioned with fines or other penalties.
Driving in violation of the mentions, accommodations, restrictions or other limitations that appear on your permit or driver’s license is also a punishable offense. When a driver needs glasses to drive (or has any other driving limitation established in the General Driver’s Regulations), his permit must specify the identification code of said limitation. Skipping it is considered a serious infraction (art. 3 of the RG of Drivers), with a economic sanction of up to 200 euros without loss of points.
The article, in fact, refers to six possible vision corrective elements that we may need: glasses (code 01.01), contact lenses (01.02), protective glasses (01.03), opaque lenses (01.04), eye coating ( 01.05) and glasses or contact lenses (01.06). Any modification of these codes on a driver’s license must be decreed to the Provincial Traffic Headquartersjustifying the reason for excluding or including it on the card and on the file of the autonomous government body that ensures our safety on the roads.
If you wonder how the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) knows whether or not you need glasses to drive a vehicle, it must be said that this detail is already known by that person who sits behind you in the driving school car while you take the driving test. The codes just described appear together with number 12, the section corresponding to the observations on our driving licence. This means that if an agent stops us driving, he can verify whether or not we need to wear glasses.
In addition to the view, the driver’s license can also reflect if we need some kind of acoustic aid, see a hearing aid or any other element that is capable of amplifying sounds from outside towards the ear. It can even make clear the need to use prostheses or orthoses of the musculoskeletal system, or limitations due to medical reasons such as the need to drive without passengers, only for the day or a specific speed limit. In short, if you have some kind of “special need” to drive, the DGT will know about it.
Is it necessary to take a spare set of glasses in the car?
The popular belief that it is still necessary to carry spare glasses in the car has even led some law enforcement officers to issue incorrect fines. Because since 1997when Annex IV of the General Regulations for Drivers was approved, ceased to be mandatory. But just like smoking at the wheel, which is not a reason for a fine (at least for now), it is highly recommended to carry a spare set. The logic is simple: if the main ones break and this prevents correct vision when driving, we would be in danger, as well as other road users.
If I have had eye surgery, what should I do?
Mentioned a few lines above, any modification of these codes in a driving license must be decreed by the Provincial Traffic Headquarters, justifying the reason for excluding or including it. In this sense, it is necessary for the interested party to provide the ophthalmological report on the surgery that has been performed to a driver’s medical examination center and for it to certify their visual aptitude. Once the aforementioned report is received, the corresponding provincial headquarters would proceed to exclude or abolish code 01.
The process is done in this way because, until the moment of renew driving license, with the consequent medical examination that accompanies it, it is officially stated that we need corrective lenses. If by bad luck in life you receive a fine for not wearing glasses or any other corrective element for not having the medical report, you can always choose to go to the DGT with the clinical test to request that the infraction be withdrawn; We do not know if there is someone who likes to pay the State because if.
