News

40 Years of Safe Bioptic Driving.

As Australia marks 40 years of safe bioptic driving nationally, disability advocates are pushing for a unified national training and licensing framework.

According to Bioptic Drivers Australia (BDA), bioptic driving is designed for people with stable, central vision impairment who retain peripheral vision. Drivers use specialised glasses fitted with a miniature telescope at the top of the frame.

Bioptic driving originated in the United during the 1950s, but it wasn’t adapted for Australian drivers until the 1980s, led by Melbourne low‑vision specialist Dr Alan Johnston. Since then, bioptic driving has continued quietly but safely under the care of trained practitioners.

Founder of Bioptic Drivers Australia, Belinda O’Connor, explains that despite a national safe driving record with no known at-fault accidents by bioptic drivers in Australia, regulations remain fragmented with Victoria implementing a statewide ban.

“I have driven safely with bioptics for over 10 years, living and working in Dubbo, Albury, Shepparton, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast... Melbourne’s driving environment is no different to any other major Australian city, and nothing in my experience supports the assumptions used to justify the ban,” she says.

BDA states that Victoria's transport authority relies on a theoretical study that lacks on-road testing, and was created by individuals without practical bioptic experience

“Victoria’s ban is not evidence‑based, not procedurally sound, and not aligned with international best practice. It removes a safe, established pathway for people with stable reduced central vision and replaces it with speculative modelling that has never been validated,” Ms O’Connor argues.

She warns that prioritising speculative modelling over decades of safe real-world data sets a dangerous precedent for other disability groups.

“Once governments accept hypothetical modelling as a basis for removing driving privileges, it can be applied to any group, any condition, or any assistive technology — even when strong evidence exists to the contrary. If this approach spreads... other groups could be 'picked off' next, losing rights and mobility based on modelling rather than facts.”

Not to be deterred, the Churchill Fellowship recipient is now developing Australia’s first reduced vision mobility pathway. As Ms O’Connor explains, the ACT Reduced Vision Mobility Pathways Project, is a structured, evidence‑based model that supports people with reduced vision to build the skills needed for safe, independent travel.

“The ACT model recognises that when people can no longer drive, they deserve a dignified transition — not stigma. Connected pathways allow older adults and people with reduced vision to move from driving to safe, supported mobility options with respect, skill‑building and choice.”