FMCSA Finalizes Alternative Vision Standard for Truck Drivers

In January 2022, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) published a final rule that created a new way for drivers who do not meet the long-standing vision standard in one eye to qualify for interstate driving. The rule appeared in the Federal Register on January 21, 2022, under docket FMCSA-2019-0049, and was set to take effect on March 22, 2022.

The agency adopted the alternative standard largely as it had proposed it a year earlier, in a January 12, 2021 proposed rule, with minor clarifications.

Who the rule covered

The alternative standard was meant for people who could not meet, with the worse eye, either the distant visual acuity standard with corrective lenses, the field-of-vision standard, or both. Before the rule, those drivers generally needed a federal vision exemption or had to rely on a grandfather provision in the regulations.

How a driver qualified

Under the new process, an ophthalmologist or optometrist first had to perform a vision evaluation and complete the Vision Evaluation Report, Form MCSA-5871. A certified medical examiner then decided whether the driver met the alternative standard and the other physical qualification standards. If so, the examiner could issue a medical examiner's certificate for up to 12 months.

To meet the alternative standard, a driver needed:

• in the better eye, distant visual acuity of at least 20/40 (Snellen), with or without corrective lenses, and a field of vision of at least 70 degrees in the horizontal meridian;
• the ability to recognize the colors of traffic signals and devices showing red, green and amber;
• a stable vision deficiency in the worse eye; and
• enough time since the deficiency became stable to adapt to and compensate for the change in vision.

The final rule clarified that the adaptation period begins after the deficiency is judged stable.

Road test for new drivers

Drivers qualifying under the alternative standard for the first time also had to pass a road test given by the employing motor carrier under 49 CFR 391.31. The rule listed exceptions, including drivers with three years of intrastate or excepted interstate driving experience with the vision deficiency, drivers holding a valid federal vision exemption, and drivers medically certified under the earlier vision waiver study program in § 391.64(b).

End of the exemption program

With the new standard in place, FMCSA moved to end the federal vision exemption program and the § 391.64 grandfather provision for vision. According to FMCSA data as of August 5, 2021, cited in the rule, 1,967 drivers held vision exemptions, and about 1,800 drivers were grandfathered under § 391.64(b). Both groups were given one year after the effective date to qualify under the new standard, after which the exemptions, and medical examiner's certificates issued under § 391.64(b), would become void. FMCSA said exemption holders would be notified by letter.

A correction published on February 10, 2022 fixed a date in the grandfather provision so that it read March 22, 2023, matching the one-year transition.

Cost estimate

FMCSA estimated the rule would save about $1.6 million a year by eliminating the need for the exemption program, a figure that included about $44,000 a year for the added road tests. The agency said it did not expect negative effects on safety and noted that no safety organizations commented on the proposal.

Archive: this article describes rules and events as of January 2022. Regulations may have changed since, so check the current rule before relying on it.