A CRACKDOWN on drivers with poor eyesight has been launched across Hampshire.

Hampshire Constabulary has teamed up with road safety charity Brake to make sure motorists can pass the 20 metres number plate check.

Throughout September, motorists stopped by road officers in Hampshire, as well as Thames Valley and the West Midlands, will be required to read a number plate from 20 metres.

Anyone who fails the test will have their driving licence immediately revoked.

This activity is part of a wider campaign to encourage the public and the government to take driver vision seriously.

An estimated 1.5 million UK licence holders have never had an eye test and crashes involving a driver with defective eyesight are thought to cause 2,900 casualties every year on the UK’s roads.

However, the UK’s driver vision testing remains inadequate and antiquated, requiring only a 20-metre number plate check when taking your driving test and nothing else for the rest of your driving life.

Sergeant Rob Heard, representing the police forces taking part in the campaign, said: "Not being able to see a hazard or react to a situation quickly enough can have catastrophic consequences."

He warned that officers will be carrying out eyesight checks "at every opportunity."

Officers can request an urgent revocation of a licence through the DVLA if they believe the safety of other road users will be put at risk if a driver remains on the road.

The power to revoke a person’s licence was introduced in 2013 under Cassie's Law, named after 16-year-old Cassie McCord, who died when an 87-year-old man lost control of his vehicle in Colchester, Essex.

It later emerged he had failed a police eyesight test days earlier, but a legal loophole meant he was allowed to continue driving.

Joshua Harris, director of campaigns for Brake, said: "It is frankly madness that there is no mandatory requirement on drivers to have an eye test throughout the course of their driving life.

"Only by introducing rigorous and professional eye tests can we fully tackle the problem of unsafe drivers on our roads."

In 2012 a study by insurance firm RSA estimated that poor vision caused 2,874 casualties in a year.