The following is a letter I have written to the California Department of Motor Vehicles. If you also
think the DMV vision policy is absurd, please write a letter to the DMV. Only if the DMV Director gets
a lot of letters is there any hope of a change. You can use this letter or use your own. Please include
your name and address; otherwise your letter will be totally ignored. Thanks.
Steven Gourley, Director
Department of Motor Vehicles
2415 1st Avenue Mail Station F101
Sacramento, CA 95818
Subject: Screwed by the DMV
Dear Mr. Gourley:
I can see as well as you can, so why is the DMV giving me such a bad time?
The vision requirements makes absolutely no sense. I have consulted an ophthalmologist, a close friend
of mine, and he too thinks the requirements are absurd.
Requiring 20/40 in both eyes has nothing to do with satisfactory vision. What is required for good vision
is good peripheral vision in both eyes, and good macular vision in one eye. The macular vision in the
other eye could be zero, and as long as the peripheral vision is fine, the total vision is fine. A person with
Tunnel Vision could pass your present tests with no problem, yet be a really dangerous driver. I had
hoped that when you bought the Optec 1000 that the DMV was finally coming to its senses, but to no
avail. The taxpayer dollars spent on the Optec 1000 were totally wasted. It's not used in my local DMV
office.
The beautifully worded DMV document titled "Vision Requirements for a Class C drivers license" also
gave me hope that you had come to your senses, again to no avail. The DMV pays absolutely no
attention to these words.
All I can figure is that the DMV uses the 20/40 requirement because it is easy and quick to measure. (It
would be even easier to skip the check of individual eyes and certainly be just as accurate.) It's a poor
way to treat California citizens. I ask you to please correct this grievous policy. Thank you for your
attention.
Yours truly,
Gary W. Deley
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