For contacts in YOUR state click here

Above: 3.0 x DVI Galilean monocular BiOptic

Driving at speed, especially on uneven road surfaces can seriously diminish your vision.  Speed kills.  Kill you speed and comply with any driving restrictions.

Seen our Press Release? Click here (74.7 Kb) Apr 29, 2002

You will need to get the free Acrobat Reader in order to view it. After you download Adobe Acrobat Reader (or if you already have it), when you click on the PDF file, it will open directly into a new browser window or frame.

Useful links/bookmarks

Survey of past and current BiOptic drivers.

To Drive or Not To Drive (article) by Lori L. Grover, O.D., F.A.A.O., and Terra J. Barnes, O.D., F.A.A.O.  Also see DRIVING AND VISUAL IMPAIRMENT by Dr Lori Grover. MS Word doc (28 Kb)

Federal Highway Administration

Federal Transit Administration

Transportation Research Board

National Highway Traffic Safety Admin. - NHTSA

Sunrise/Sunset Chart - helpful for daylight-only drivers or those who don't like to drive in the dark.

Definitions of Blindness and Low Vision.

Other sources of information

BiOptic Driving is a personal story of a BiOptic driver, and is devoted to the dissemination of information about low vision driving with the use of a BiOptic; also has mentors in several states to assist individuals.

New movie on BiOptic driving

To see a MS PowerPoint presentation given by Dr. Dennis Kelleher on factors concerning driving with BiOptics, click here. (60 Kb)  Also see About driving with Bioptics and A presentation, driving with BiOptics.

A teen driving website center for parents and future teen drivers needing solutions, instruction, statistics and education on everything about safe teen driving.

NOAH Webboard Archive Between 2/97 and 2/02 NOAH had a well used webboard concerning low vision driving.  It's archived here.

Large Print Reviews Reviews of large print and audio books and other items of interest to individuals with low vision.

American Macular Degeneration Foundation 

P.O. Box 515 Northampton, MA 01061-0515 Tel: 413-268-7660  1-888-MACULAR (1-888-622-8527).  Those concerned with Macular Degeneration should read this article by Paul B Freeman O.D. [160 Kb PDF format]

 BiOptic driving

Survey of past and current BiOptic drivers.

For most people, driving is a very important privilege and a necessary part of maintaining independent living and travel. When vision is impaired as a result of disease, trauma or congenital condition, specific visual requirements needed for driving may not be obtained, resulting in an inability to meet standard requirements for legal driving, and restriction or loss of driver licensure. Most states across the US offer the option of driving for people who have less than perfect vision. Through state BiOptic programs across the country, people of driving age with visual impairment are afforded the opportunity to obtain and maintain safe and legal drivers licensure. - Dr. Lori L Grover O.D., F.A.A.O.

The Division of Motor Vehicles

DMV in most states, requires that an applicant for a driver's license see 20/40 (6/12) or better with at least their better eye.  Indeed the typical criteria:

• 20/40 (6/12) Visual Acuity with BiOptic 
• Greater than 20/50 -20/200 (6/15 - 6/60) inclusive through the carrier lens (variable or non-uniform from state to state).
• Minimum 120 degrees horizontal field of view in the better functioning eye
• Stable Eye Condition
• Ability to Differentiate Color
• Ability to Track Objects

Some State requirements:

Always contact your local BiOptic Driving Specialist.  For contact details in your state, click here.

For details of requirements in California, Kentucky, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia, click here. (21 Kb) Data correct at 2/02.  Source: "Driving With Confidence" by Dr Eli Peli, Harvard Medical School.

ADA Information

In 2001, 34 US States permit BiOptics for driving, and BDN research finds that it's permissible to drive with a BiOptic device in other states, proving the driver is properly licensed in a "permissive" state and the vehicle has valid tags from that state.  The trend to wider acceptance continues steadily.

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act states: "No qualified individual with a disability shall, on the basis of disability, be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of the services, programs, or activities of a public entity, or be subjected to discrimination by any public entity."  For more info call 1-800-514-0301 or 1-800-514-0383 (TDD) See:  http://www.usdoj.gov/disabilities.htm 

Complaint form is here.

Complaints can be sent to:

U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Civil Rights Division - Disability Rights Section New York Avenue Building, Room 4023 Washington, DC 20530

See a video clip of a BiOptic driver. 

This clip is taken from "Hope In Sight: Living With Macular Degeneration" produced by the New England Research Institutes in Watertown, MA under NEI grant R43 EY12443.  The driver is a patient of Dr. Peli using a DVI 4.0X expanded field telescope

To see the video clip in mpg format, for Windows Media Player, click here (4.72 Mb).  To see it in mov format, for Quick Time 5, click here (4.72 Mb).

Finally, for a portrait of a real life BiOptic driver, and to read some of her story, click here.