Mild, medium colour blind citizens can obtain driving licence

Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on Friday said it has allowed mild to medium colour blind citizens to obtain driving licence.

Now there will be restrictions only on the severe colour blind citizens from driving. The colour blindness will be tested through Ishihara chart, known test for such problems, said an official in the Ministry of Transport.

The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways issued a notification for amendment to the FORM 1 and FORM 1A of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules 1989 for enabling the citizens with mild to medium colour blindness in obtaining driving licence.

Debarring people with colour blindness would impact around 3 per cent population. In India, existince of congenital colour blindness is about 8 per cent in males and 0.4% in females, said the official.

Earlier, the Ministry had received a number of representations from various organisations stating that the colour blind citizens are not able to have driving licences.

The Ministry had constituted an expert committee, comprising opthamologusts from AIIMS, Delhi and sought their suggestions.

The committee had said that there is no need to test colour blindness for licence to drive private vehicles, including two-wheelers.

The panel also said that for commercial vehicle drivers, license can be issued if the deficiency is mild or moderate. In case of serious deficiencies, no license should be issued, the panel said.

The panel also suggested the government to make traffic lights colour blindness friendly as per the International Commission on Illumination.

The panel also noted that European Union has removed the restriction on people with colour blindness in obtaining driving licence while in United States, licences are not issued to such persons for driving commercial vehicles.