UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

Just a question for you KC people, Do you Drive? if not is it because you are not allowed?

Hello again

my personal answer to this now is no I don't anymore.

When I was initially diagnosed and glasses prescribed I was ok and carried on driving.

As I moved on to the next stage and needed RGP contact lenses I did not take well to these and ended up after many attempts at fitting with scleral lenses. During this time I could not drive.

I then had a period of about 12 months where I was ok and could drive and then about 12 months ago my eyes changed again and whilst my lenses were changed and I get about day to day now ok ish I can no longer see well enough to drive.

THIS IS VERY INDIVIDUAL FOR EACH ONE OF US just because you have KC does not mean you will not be able to drive.

What you basically need is to see the consultant/optometrist get on with the fitting for glasses or contact lenses and once this has settled down and been completed you can then be advised what your visual acuity is and whether or not you are legally able to drive.
If you ask they will tell you this and you will also know for yourself if you check if you can see number plates at the required distance (20.5 feet I think, do check this as I may have got it wrong)

This is probably a really frustrating time for you and you possibly wonder if things can get any worse.

Just try to get one thing at a time sorted and hopefully in a short while you will be able to look back on it all and just pass it off to a bad experience.

best wishes

Susan

Jayboi,

As long as my corrected sight is within the legal requirments I drive. It has been declared to the DVLA threee months ago and I have heard nothing. In the meantime I have passes the Institute of Advanced Motorists Test a second time, on this occasion it was when I was having trouble with my right eye and the hospital were ready to register me blind in that eye. The examiner who is a police examiner for the high speed pursuit driving comended me on my driving, he said it was one of the best examples he had seen, what made him more surprised was when he saw I had done the test and passed 6 years ago, so I told him why I was retaking it; I was as good as blind in one eye

His remark was if all people with sight in one eye drive like me, then we should make everyone blind in one eye. I took this as a complement.

Once our sight is corrected, there is no reason why we can not do anytyhing we set our mind to.

I do drive because with my contact lenses I am just on the acceptable limit. I think it has made me a better driver because I am more aware of my limitations and so am more cautious and take greater care. Some days I cannot drive though - my contacts will not stay in or my vision is cloudy or blurred. Then it is my judgement call. I know if I was to drive when I knew I shouldn't, and I had an acident (even if not completely my fault) I would have to live the rest of my life knowing what I had done, and if someone was hurt or killed in that accident I know i couldn't live withit.

Brigid

Yes i do drive although not right now as i don't have a car! LOL!!

So long as you make 6/12 with at least one eye and have good peripheral vision you are legal to drive. You do need to declare KC to DVLA and your insurance company though just in case as if you don't they may not cover you should you have an accident.

Best of luck with it and know that while you may see well enough to drive that we all sadly have bad eye days and that you have to think whether you are ok to drive on that day.

Take care, Sweet X x X

If it's had wheels I've had a go at driving it since I was 14; from the motorbike right up to the so called battle-taxi Army Saxon, I wasn't allowed to drive the Saladin because it had a machine gun meh.
I've had my full DL for 12yrs now, declared my eyesight 3 times; taking the test, insurance and once more when I had my DL renewed, never had a problem, and no accidents that I caused but twice I've had people crash into me; an painful side impact once and a rear-ender that almost broke my kneecaps ... the best time I ever had driving thou was when a friend of mine had a small dirt circuit with a couple of ramps built and we went driving a pair of stripped ford fiestas, actually got to flip the car ... you seriously haven't driven until you've tried that heh!
Everytime I go to the contact lens clinic which is down to twice a year I ask if my sight is good; only ever been told twice to not drive, when I had an eye infection and recently after this graft was told to refrain from driving for about a week...so been driving fine now for about 2 wks...
Since having KC my right eye has always been around 6/6 6/5 lens corrected, without a lens I get around 6/6 for about 2-3hrs then it dips to about 6/18. When I could tolerate wearing a scleral lens in the left I was able, for limited periods of time, to achieve 6/12 but around then I had some odd night time driving issues; glare etc so for a while I avoided driving at night. The weirdest time to date concerning driving was a real emergency I had a few yrs back, was awoke at around 3am, raced to the car and did the rush-like-mad dash to the local hospital, it only occured to me on the drive home, I never had my contact lenses in at all! I suppose that can prove a lot of different things to different people, it did make me stop and think for days.

One thing worth remembering is that if your sight is below the legal requirment and you drive anyway, your insurance is void.

Should you have an accident and it can be prooved at the time of the accident your sight was sub standard, regardless of blame, your insurance is void.

Not something insurance companies make clear, so with the mileages I drive, I make sure I am one line better. Constantly throughout my journey I look for signs and use the odometer to check distances I can read. When it falls to a certain level (usualy about the leagal limit), I stop. Luckily I have a frien with a recovery truck that says he will collect me. Not needed it so far, just a break and rewetting lenses has surficed, only had to do this once though.

J-B

For the first 30 something years with KC I continued to drive safely and legally.

I then had to stop for a bit because my sight deteriorated.

I am now post graft and have started to drive again.

Andrew

I lost my licence for nearly four years. this started back in 1989 when I was 19. It was because I had an Epileptic Fit - in the sandwiches section of M&S, damn glad I was out cold, I'd have died of embarrassment - I then had another nearly two years after and ended up licence-less for nearly four years.

The point of this is that even in rural Somerset, I found getting about to be easy enough. Yes a car makes things easy, but there are a lot of alternatives, and they are mostly a hell of a lot less stressful than driving.

You know it was a Saturday lunchtime at Christmas that I had that fit. Hundreds of people would have seen me being carted into an ambulance....no-one has ever said to me that they saw it....THANK GOD!!!

By the way, been fit free for 12-14 years now. What with that and KC and a bad back....Jesus, listen to me whinging.

I am turning 17 this year, and have always wondered whther or not I will be able to drive. I am a car fanatic so I would be really disappointed if my eyes restricted my driving! I intend to ask more about it at my next hospital appointment.