Essilor and ALSA partner to promote the visual health of their drivers

Madrid/Granada, October 21, 2019. – Essilor, the world leader in ophthalmic lenses, and ALSA, the leading Spanish road passenger transport operator, have signed an agreement to promote the importance of good vision among their drivers. The aim of this collaboration is to raise awareness among professional drivers about the importance of regular eye check-ups to improve safety in their professional performance.

Therefore, around 60 drivers have been the first in Granada to undergo four specific visual tests for driving: ametropia, photopic and mesopic visual acuity, campimetry and glare, which are complementary to the usual visual examination performed by vision professionals.

ALSA drivers transport almost a million passengers a day on our roads, so it is vitally important that their faculties are in full performance and, of course, also their visual health, to increase driving safety. Therefore, through this agreement with Essilor, the vision of the company's drivers in Spain will be reviewed within two years.

Through a series of tests specifically oriented to driving, complementary to the usual visual examination performed by vision professionals, determining information will be obtained on aspects such as the visual field of the drivers, their ability to recover from glare or if they can distinguish objects with sharpness, all of them vital capacities for safe driving. Specifically, using the Visiosmart instrument, drivers undergo four tests: ametropia, photopic and mesopic visual acuity, campimetry and glare.

Pedro Cascales, Country VP Essilor Spain, emphasizes that “agreements like this are essential to raise awareness among professional drivers of the importance of correct vision on the road, since vision is involved in at least 5% of traffic accidents. Every day thousands of people get on an ALSA bus, so reviewing their visual health and receiving the appropriate treatment is essential to guarantee the safety of both the traveler, as well as pedestrians and other drivers.”

In this sense, Eduardo Mayoral, Director of Security of ALSA, adds that “we work under the maxim of safety. With this agreement we reinforce our commitment to society, as we are very clear that all our drivers must have a perfect state of health and their faculties in full performance while driving, and of course among them, as a priority, correct visual health. We believe that all drivers should have their visual health checked annually, and we want ALSA drivers to be the first to set an example, thanks to this agreement with Essilor.”

This collaboration is part of the 'Vision and Driving' project that Essilor launched last year following the agreement reached worldwide with the International Automobile Federation (FIA) and which had the collaboration of RACE (as a founding partner of FIA in Spain) and CEPSA and to which this year the Spanish Foundation for Road Safety (Fesvial) and the Institute of Traffic and Road Safety (INTRAS) of the University of Valencia have also joined.

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