Role of Decreased Visual Acuity, Contrast Sensitivity Disorder, and Visual Field Defect in Traffic Accidents and Recommendations to Improve These Factors

One of the requirements of safe driving is having good and strong vision. Some vision disorders, can increase the risk of traffic accidents. The present article was conducted to examine the role of decreased visual acuity, contrast sensitivity disorder, and visual field defect in accidents. Also, some recommendations are provided to improve these factors.

In the present review article, three databases of Google scholar, PubMed, and Scopus were search for articles in English and without time limitation using some keywords (Contrast sensitivity, visual field, inappropriate glasses, traffic accidents, and vision impairment) individually and in combinations.
Findings: If there is a correlation between visual acuity and accidents, it is very weak. There was a positive correlation between contrast sensitivity disorder and traffic accidents. The risk of traffic accidents can be increased if the visual field defect is binocular and severe. The main considerations to improve these factors have been in the form of recommendations to drivers and changing screening processes.

Impaired visual acuity has a poor relationship with car accidents. Researchers do not have consensus over the direct relationship between vision disorder and traffic accidents and some believe this issue is inconclusive. But among the factors studied, contrast sensitivity has a greater impact on car accidents compared with the other two factors. Therefore, more studies should be performed to identify and reduce the causes of impaired contrast sensitivity.