Citation

Grant WM. Proc. Am. Assoc. Automot. Med. Annu. Conf. 1970; 11(1967): 192-200.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1970, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

There are many toxic substances that may disturb vision and interfere with driving. My knowledge of driving is only that of the average person, but I maintain a file on drugs and chemicals that affect vision. I have gone through this file looking for the desired information, but I have been able to find few instances in which consideration has been given specifically to toxic influences on vision in driving. I have also looked into some of the writings concerning visual requirements in driving. Publications that I assume to be authoritative by Danielson, who examined the relationship of field of vision to safety in driving, and by Byrnes, who has considered all sorts of visual factors in driving, make a brief allusion to possible influences of drugs and toxic agents on vision in driving, but they present no specific data or examples. Similarly, the official medical guide for physicians in determining fitness to drive a motor vehicle issued by the American Medical Association's Committee on Medical Aspects of Automobile Injuries and Deaths discusses possible adverse effects on driving from several types of drugs, including central nervous system depressants; hypnotics, sedatives and anesthetics; tranquillizing drugs; central nervous system stimulants; antihistamines and drugs preventing motion sickness; anti-infective agents; and hallucinogens, but concerning vision merely mentions "dimness of vision" from narcotics, and potential reduction of "visual sensitivity" in night driving by carbon monoxide from exhaust or from excessive smoking. For want of an established literature on the subject, the best I have been able to do has been to go through my file of toxic substances and their effects on vision, trying to catalogue the types of substances and the kinds of visual disturbances that might have practical significance in driving. Since vision may be affected by disturbances of the cornea, the pupil, the lens, the retina, the optic nerve, the brain, and the external eye muscles, I have organized this material primarily along anatomic lines.