When a commercial vehicle driver is on the road, their eyesight is critical to keeping them, and others, safe while doing their job.
“Good visual input is essential for driving commercial motor vehicles (CMV) because they are larger and heavier than automobiles and require more time to stop and room to maneuver,” explained a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) spokesperson. “FMCSA’s vision standards play an important role in roadway safety and ensuring that drivers are physically capable of operating large trucks and buses safely."
This is partially why FMCSA has such specific requirements for drivers’ vision, both with and without corrective lenses. According to the Code of Federal Regulations’ section on driver eyesight, they must meet certain visual acuity requirements for range and distance. And these requirements must be verified by an ophthalmologist or optometrist as well as a medical examiner on FMCSA’s National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners.
However, while FMCSA’s rules expect that drivers have access to these experts and eyeglasses to help them be safe on the road, not every country has these same requirements, and not every driver has easy access to the tools to meet them.
Clear vision for all
According to the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, in 2020 an estimated 1.4 million people in Zambia had experienced some vision loss, while in Nigeria, 24 million people were living with decreased vision. And truck drivers in these countries are not immune to the problem.
“Poor vision is a widespread issue among truck drivers in Nigeria and Zambia, posing a significant risk to road safety,” said Gabriel Ogunyemi, Africa Region director for VisionSpring, a nonprofit that focuses on providing eyeglasses to people across the world who are vulnerable to poverty. “Blurry vision can impact an individual's ability to navigate roads, especially in low-light or night-time conditions. This increases the chances of accidents which can put drivers’, passengers’, and pedestrians’ lives at risk.”
According to Ogunyemi, VisionSpring has found that 57% of drivers in Nigeria and 48% in Zambia need vision correction due to refractive errors, and 1 in 4 cannot see road signs clearly from 20 to 30 meters. This is where the non-profit comes in, particularly with its See to be Safe program.
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VisionSpring launched See to be Safe in India in 2015, then extended it to Nigeria in 2022 and Zambia in 2023. The program establishes temporary vision screening centers and then provides eyeglasses to those who need them based on the screening results.
“We set up vision screening camps where drivers already are – transport hubs, ports, breakbulk centers, and rest stops,” Ogunyemi explained. “For drivers especially, this is key because it allows them to get back on the road immediately.”
For drivers who only need regular eyesight correction, VisionSpring provides reading glasses and their proprietary Pop-ins glasses for common prescriptions, often on the spot. Custom prescriptions are fulfilled in a lab and returned to drivers later.
Ogunyemi reported that VisionSpring has screened drivers in 54 Nigerian towns and cities, and 22 Zambian towns and cities, particularly in border towns where drivers wait to clear customs. Through See to be Safe, the non-profit has provided vision screenings for more than 117,000 Nigerians and Zambians, with 32,000 receiving eyeglasses.
“But our work has never been just about eyeglasses,” Ogunyemi emphasized. “The glasses are a tool – for staying safe on the roads, for improving your livelihood, or to make it possible for you to read to your children or grandchildren. Clear vision allows you to see all of life’s beautiful details.”
As a nonprofit, VisionSpring is always looking for more hands to help with its mission. For fleets and shops in the U.S. who’d like to get involved and bring some visual clarity to drivers worldwide, VisionSpring is accepting donations to support their work, or you can bring attention to their efforts in your organization or on social media. Additionally, larger companies with businesses in Nigeria, Zambia, or India can partner with the nonprofit to help provide vision outreach camps to drivers in their network.
No matter how large or small your operation is or where your trucks roam, it’s better for everyone when drivers can see clearly. With your help, VisionSpring can solve can provide a service that many of us in the U.S. take for granted.
“There are lots of intractable problems in the world, but this is not one of them,” Ogunyemi concluded.
