Some clarification is in order. No way will I defend our "health system" as flawless, but it is the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario that sets the rules for driving licences. MTO has guidelines that must be met- in my case the field of vision has to be minimum 120⁰ (binocular) wearing corrective lenses. I am 125⁰, but because a doctor thought I was deficient because he pointed out something outside my field of vision (subjective test), he followed MTO guidelines and notified MTO- to cover his ass because he would be in trouble if I had an accident and it was found that he had examined me. BTW, this happened in '05, so I've had 4 years of accident free driving. Doctors are protected from legal action for mis-diagnosis. So, I couldn't go back to him even with a good test and once that report was filed with MTO I was SOL. The only way I could get my licence back was to go through a remedial program which meant new eye tests, Doctor's report, and a day at a rehab centre 3 hours from home. That involved psychological tests, visual recogniton tests and 1^1/2 hour driving test in Toronto. Nurse said I passed everything perfectly and wondered why I was really there, as she give me a $600 bill. And I have to file annual reports. My beef is with MTO, especially when they lost my last report- their mail goes to one central location and is then delivered to appropriate division- maybe in same building or across town. Not the first time, and no use registered mail because it can be traced to their mail centre, but gets lost internally.

I would be surprised if other jurisdictions do not have similar standards for drivers.

Note on eye tests; we are covered for one examination every 2 years. Except diabetics and some others are covered for annual exams. Doctor visits are covered, but not special medical reports for driver's and pilot licences. Extra eye tests are payable by patient too, so that is where other costs were involved. Eyeglasses are expensive, but pays to shop around. I had one quote for over $550- invisible trifocals, tinted, frames. I paid $375.