The good doctor on: Driving With a Telescope
Blog #34
It is finally here.
I am glad to hear that ae vaccine for Covid-19 has been introduced to Canada in the past week. As exciting and hopeful as that news is, something happened in Ontario this past week that has been eagerly awaited for the past 40 years. Individuals with a visual impairment will now be permitted to use bioptic telescopes to drive a car in Ontario.
A person who does not meet the 20/50-with-spectacle-lenses requirement for a “G” class drivers’ license in Ontario will be able to drive as long as their field of vision is unrestricted and as long as they meet 20/50 through the telescope. As a low vision specialist, this news has been anticipated for some time. In the late 1990’s, when I was teaching Optometry in St. Louis, we used to fit bioptic telescopes for the citizens of Illinois, just across the Mississippi River. The state of Illinois had passed legislation that allowed use of bioptics for driving, while Missouri had not. We now fast forward to 2020, where 45 states in the U.S., and two provinces and two territories in Canada now permit it.
This is very good news for those few who have macular degeneration and cannot drive. If that is you, please call our office and set up a time for an assessment, during which we can measure your residual vision and determine if you are a good candidate for bioptic telescopes. A bioptic is a telescope that is mounted at about a 15 degree angle from the horizontal and just above the normal pupil height. It is used like a rear-view mirror in a car, only viewed through for spotting detail in the distance.
The bioptic telescope has limitations, however. First, a maximum of 4X strength would be advised, any stronger would be too difficult to safely use. Secondly, cost can be a problem as the telescope itself is not cheap, and then expertise is required to fit a telescope and to train a person to use it. Fortunately, the Ontario Assistive Device Program can help pay for some of the costs of the telescope. Third, ongoing research also strongly suggests that a bioptic driver should receive special driving instruction before hitting the road. The telescope is not for everyone, but for the people who qualify and are motivated to make it work, it can be a wonderful thing.
The improved treatments for macular degeneration have kept people’s vision longer; the use of bioptics will allow people to use the vision they have remaining to its maximum.
Til next week,
The Good Doctor, Dr. Mark Germain, Burlington Optometrist
