Anne Ferguson was killed while crossing the street near her home in Whitworth on July 11, 2023. The man who was driving the van that struck her was 75-year-old Vernon Law – and he had such poor vision that he failed to read the top line of an eye test chart.
Anne Ferguson was killed while crossing the street near her home in Whitworth on July 11, 2023. The man who was driving the van that struck her was 75-year-old Vernon Law – and he had such poor vision that he failed to read the top line of an eye test chart.
That eye test, at Rochdale Specsavers, came a month prior to the fatal crash on Market Street – but Law carried on driving and failed to disclose his sight issues on driving licence applications.
The Clough Road resident from Bacup had been diagnosed with cataracts in both eyes but lied to an optometrist about being a driver and failed to disclose his sight issues on multiple DVLA licence applications, an inquest into Anne’s death previously heard at Preston County Hall.
Law later pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and was sentenced to four years in prison and banned from driving for life.
Now, two-and-a-half years on from that tragic day, the government is looking to introduce mandatory eye tests for drivers over the age of 70. It forms part of a number of plans within the new government road safety strategy unveiled on January 7.
Rochdale MP Paul Waugh has campaigned on this issue since coming into office at the last general election. He says Anne Ferguson’s death had highlighted a ‘system that was clearly failing’.
Mr Waugh had also campaigned on other safety measures introduced in the new strategy: cracking down on illegal ghost number plates and strengthening the response to drug driving.
The strategy commits the government to new legislation and national enforcement action against illegal ‘ghost’ number plates, which are used by criminals to evade police cameras and avoid detection.
Rochdale Trading Standards’ Operation Ghost exposed the scale of the problem nationally. Mr Waugh took that fight into Parliament, co-sponsored legislation to toughen penalties, and repeatedly challenged ministers to act. The new strategy confirms that crackdown.
The strategy also delivers a major step forward on drug driving. Following Mr Waugh’s parliamentary campaigning, including raising the case of eight-year-old Blake Clarke who was killed in a cocaine-related crash, the government will now bring forward new measures on drug and drink driving, including tougher enforcement powers and preventative technology.
Mr Waugh said: “This is a major victory for road safety campaigning that has come straight out of Rochdale.
“On ghost plates, Rochdale Trading Standards exposed a national scandal and I took that fight into Parliament. On drug driving, I stood in the Commons and spoke about Blake Clarke’s death because no government should ignore the reality of what is happening on our roads. On eyesight checks, families like Anne Ferguson’s forced us to confront a system that was clearly failing.
“Today, all three of those campaigns are being turned into national action. That matters, because it means lives will be saved.
“These changes are not headlines, they are hard-won. They come from families who refused to stay silent and from local campaigners and enforcement teams who did the work. I am proud that Rochdale has helped force this shift.”
The new Road Safety Strategy is the first in more than a decade and sets out a plan to cut deaths and serious injuries on Britain’s roads by 65 per cent by 2035, with a 70 pc target for children under 16.
The wider strategy includes consultations on lowering the drink drive limit; introducing a three or six month minimum learning period for learner drivers; mandating 18 new vehicle safety technologies; creating a new Road Safety Investigation Branch and Road Safety Board; and adopting the internationally recognised Safe System approach to road safety.
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