[Omah]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-s...wales-21612397

Motorists in south Wales could lose their licences immediately if their eyesight is found to be too poor, as police introduce random checks.

Drivers in Talbot Green, Cardiff, Aberdare and Rhondda will be asked to read the registration plate of a vehicle parked 20m (65ft) away.

New technology set up by the DVLA and police means a licence can be revoked in hours, whereas it used to take days.

Police say motorists with bad eyesight are just as dangerous as drink-drivers.

Police will stop drivers over the next four weeks to check they can drive safely.

They also want to raise awareness about the new technology which speeds up the time it takes to revoke a licence.

Officers now use hand-held devices to report offending drivers, and a quick email response from the DVLA means a licence can be revoked on the same day somebody is caught.

Police previously had to write or fax a request for licence removal, which would take a number of days.

The changes follow a campaign to highlight the issue after 16-year-old Cassie McCord, from Colchester, Essex, was killed by an 87-year-old driver in 2011.

He had refused to surrender his licence despite failing an on-the-spot eye sight test three days earlier.

About time ..... half-blind OAP drivers are a menace on the roads - the police should check their hearing, too .....