AdelaidePeter wrote: ↑Wed Apr 19, 2023 11:05 am
Thoglette wrote: ↑Wed Apr 19, 2023 10:52 am
The killer should not have had a license
Key points:
Robert Lloyd Hall was struck from behind while riding his bike near Quorn in 2018
The court heard John Charles Robertson had to physically move his head to make up for a complete lack of peripheral vision
The court heard Mr Robertson was granted an unconditional licence in 2016, despite not meeting the requirements
Robert Lloyd Hall, 66, was wearing a high-vis vest while riding his mountain bike on the side of the Horrocks Highway near Quorn on a clear day in May 2018, when a 4WD struck him from behind.
The driver, John Charles Robertson, from Wilmington in the state's north, had suffered a stroke in 2014, during brain surgery that resulted in permanent loss of peripheral vision on his left-hand side
Thank you for posting, I missed that. What a disgrace. I hope the doctor(s) who allowed his license are followed up and lose the ability to issue license exemptions in future. (In my dreams).
I'll quote from the 'Australian Fitness to Drive' handbook to clarify that one.
A person is not fit to hold an unconditional licence if:
- The binocular visual field does not have a horizontal extent of at least 110 degrees within 10 degrees above and below the horizontal midline.
or
- There is any significant visual field loss (scotoma) within a central radius of 20 degrees of the foveal fixation or other scotoma likely to impede driving performance.
A conditional licence may be considered by the driver licensing authority subject to annual review taking into account the nature of hte driving task and information provided by the treating optometrist or ophthalmologist.
What I suspect here is that this wasn't read and an unconditional licence was issued. However you can see that the correct thing to do with the right advice would be to issue a 'conditional' licence with annual review. What are those conditions? The book is exceedingly vague on that front.
Personally I wouldn't issue a licence for that guy without an occupational therapist driving assessment. But the medical standards for drivers are remarkably low. I suspect as above that this guy actually saw the cyclist, then lost sight of him and went anyway. That's an issue with his brain, but not the visual part...