Today its official: I hold an open drivers license and I'm a bioptic driver in Australia

It's Official! Today I am the holder of an 'open' drivers license!

in the photo to the right in the section titled 'Class' of license you can see a 'C' is for car and 'R' for motorcycle rider. For both, the provisional status ceases today, 12 July 2020.

And, in section titled 'Conditions' you see a 'P', 'S', X'. The P per the above is the provisional status that ends today. It is still listed on my license because at the time I went into Access Canberra to apply and pay for my open license I still held the P status. So this new license, even though the new colour, has dates of when the P ends - this is standard practice. Its also standard practice that first open license you hold is only for three years instead of the standard five years (or you can pay for a one year).

The other two conditions; 'S' for spectacles and 'X' for documented condition are listed on a piece of paper connected to my license. the spectacle condition is very common, if you are required to wear glasses then you have a 'conditional' drivers license where you must wear your spectacles/glasses. That's me too. But! because I am a bioptic driver, I have an added condition that I must wear my bioptic. And due to my very unique eyesight condition, during the day I must wear tints on the top of the my bioptic. So the 'X' condition is generally a medical requirement when you are driving. And for me, that's bloody fantastic! Because without the tints and bioptic I would never have been able to drive, not just get the drivers license so for me it's a no brainer! Here is my document conditions card:

Wow! Surreal, but not as surreal as each milestone from the begining of my journey. Along the way its less all consuming and difficult mentally, emotionally and physically. But, that's not to say its easy. Because it is not. Here's just a few dot points of the challenges I have had to overcome to get to this point:

• being told as a child and teen that there is nothing anyone can do, "you will never drive";
• always knowing in my heart if I had the right supports I could drive but it took 30 years;
• occupational therapists in ACT not wanting to be my driving instructor because they had no idea bioptic driving existed and saw me as too high risk;
• having a motorcycle instructor ripe into me on a group ride when asked to lead the group yet one of the other learner riders smacked her scooter into one of the other bikes and fell over- there were calm and kind words from the instructor;
• my own blind community in Australia overtly condemned me for bioptic driving and warning others not to do it;
• almost loosing my license not because I had done anything wrong but because the national regulator was persuaded by one conservative eye doctor based on emotive statements that biooptic drivers are too risky. Being judged negatively based on an attribute I was born with and living in fear that my human rights will be violated when the science shows otherwise;
• for years having to keep secret and hide my joy, my exciting milestones, my later in life journey of living an ordinary life and doing an ordinary thing - getting a drivers license that everyone else sees as a right of passage as a teen and jokes about learning mistakes. For me and others with medical conditions, the prejudice is real. We are not afforded that normal training of mistakes and any mistake is put back on us in a way it is because of our medical condition.

The hardest barriers have been and continue to be 'attitude'. Driving these days for eyesight is no long the fixed yes or no of 6/12 from the 1950s/60s. Today we are about functional assessments and reasonable adjustment along with occupational therapy and conditions. It's a different world where the science shows bioptic drivers can be safe drivers.

Along with the personal barriers I have had to move through to become a bioptic driver, we as a group face an existential barrier of whether bioptic driving will continue at all in Australia, remain stagnant as it is now with only a handful of specialists meaning supply is severely hampered. Or, if decision makers today have the political courage to listen to the science, embrace technology, honor human rights and expand economic opportunities to implement an Australian bioptic driving framework.

This is why we set up Bioptic Drivers Australia:
https://www.biopticdriversaus.com/

I am proud of me and I am proud of all you who share this journey: drivers and assessor/trainers alike.

Four Wheel Driving as a Bioptic Driver

Do any of you as bioptic drivers do 4WDing? Or want to? Here is my certificate to show I passed the three day Basic 4WD Driver Training – and am really looking forward to doing more 4WDing and supporting my partner whom is the main driver.

In February 2019 I did a 4WD course with Southern Tablelands 4WD Club and took the opportunity to do my disability leadership thing. Am so very grateful to ST4WDC in taking my training in their stride and being so very supportive of bioptics and bioptic low vision driving. You can check them out and their courses here:

https://st4wdc.com.au/

They asked me to present to the class of students about the bioptic and why I was using it. The head instructor used positive and inclusive language to talk about the bioptic on the benefits that it is fantastic and life changing. As a result, the students embraced me and were helpful knowing my poor vision.

My instructor was very impressed how I used the bioptic to do the job and managed my own pace and situation. Here is an interview I did with Robert Pepper, one of the club members who runs a FB automotive magazine. He was amazed and wanted to put the word out in case bioptics can help others.

Click here to open Facebook: Interview by Robert of Automotive Magazine about bioptics for driving

As a person with vision impairment who uses a bioptic to drive and only been driving for three years, I knew this training was going to require some adaption but having observed with my partner do the course last year I believed it was achievable. I can highly recommend that if any person who does things differently would like to see if they can 4WD that they are able to be given opportunity to observe as I did and then learn and consider if and how they can apply what needs to be done to how they need to do it. Further, whilst I did observe last time, there is nothing like actually doing the training yourself to give you that hands on muscle memory and for me that is essential as I learn by doing.

I need to give whole hearted credit to my trainer who was amazing both with skill and flexibility to take things in his stride by firstly listening to me about what I can and cannot see but also and most importantly, not making assumptions about what he thought I can and cannot see or do. This is really difficult for most people. It is a tribute to him that I progress so well through the course.

I went along just wanting to learn to 4WD so I could take the wheel to support my partner when we go on trips. I considered my learning would be slow and methodical taking it in my stride and just being happy as to where I am at. However to my surprise I progressed at the same pace as the other students, even with some modifications and not knowing the car as it is not my daily drive.

As an example, there is a cone exercise where the instructor puts a coloured cone on the ground and you have to drive forward and put your right front wheel and then left front wheel on top of that cone. This skill is required so you can learn where your wheels as under you as you drive so you can position your vehicle exactly over an obstacle such as a rut or offsets or a rock. The other part of the cone exercise is to reverse your truck around a pole as a u-turn without knocking the pole down.

For the cone exercise I truly did not think I would be able to place the wheels so close to the cone on both sides nor to be able to back the big dual cab ute around the pole. But I did all of that and without too much effort. What helped is knowing my disability and what I need to see which is high contrast. So in preparation we had bought black and white tape to place on the bonnet to mark where the tires sit under the bonnet. Whereas other students used cable ties that I struggled to see. Doing the course also allowed me to figure out what times of the day I struggle to see the terrain and think about how to compensate for such. For example, certain times of the day when the sun shines into the cab I have difficulty seeing out so needed to slow the car, ensure the windshield is clean and sometimes look outside the window instead of the windscreen. Being all at low speed allowed me to think and drive.

Lastly, the comradeship developed with co-trainees really topped off the experience. All such lovely people, trainees and trainers alike. People were greatly supportive of each other and certainly felt safe and professionalism was key. The bon fires on Friday and Saturday night made for relaxing social time and great viewing.

Here are some pictures and videos of my experience. These include manuevring on rough terain up and down hills, how to tackle ruts, how to understand if you can drive over an object or to find another way and much more.

The above two videos are of 4WD snatch exercise. This is a very important aspect you must learn with 4WD. You need to know the gear you need and how to use it. We then get to demonstrate being snatched by another vehicle i.e. being pulled out. And we learn to snatch another vehicle.

Belinda in drivers seat with instructor in passenger seat driving over offset mounds

Driving over offset mounds giving a wave

Driving up steep incline around a corner that has a rock preceding and under the front left wheel.

Defensive driving as a bioptic driver – do it!

A bit of delay on posts these days but nonetheless the good stuff is coming!

Just as I got my provisional drivers licence in 2017 I booked myself into a defensive driving course.  Why? Well I always want to learn anything that will help me with safe driving practices.

This is something I really do recommended to anyone whom first gets their licence – that is EVERYONE!  Probably even good if you get a new car too to see how it handles.

So what do you learn at these sorts of courses?  Check out this website of the course I attended:

https://www.suttonroad.com.au/index.php/light-vehicle-training-89.html

As a first time driver I was excited to learn how my car behaves and techniques in common situations I might get myself into trouble.  Just a few things we did:

·      Emergency braking

·      Swerving

·      Braking at speed on the side of the road

·      Behaviour of car on the skidpan – in the wet, with and without traction control.

In addition to these practical matters, we were also taught theory on numerous matters that you don’t get told when you learn to drive and are really valuable!

As an example, did you know that we all (disability or not) have a blind spot in the middle of our eye where the optic nerve connects and that this means when we are at an intersection looking to the right and left, we may not see an oncoming car because it is in our blind spot?  One other blind spot in this scenario you may be aware of is the windscreen side panels.  So to compensate for these you can move your head side to side and up and down so your eyes have different views and this helps mitigate vision loss in those blind spots.  Try it!  Tell me what you think?

So what did we do?

This is a video of me driving up to 60km/hr, then emergency breaking on a bend.  So behind each of these sessions, the instructor would explain what we are doing, the principle learning outputs, how to do the activity and then demonstrate.

Here is a video of me emergency breaking on the side the road, half gravel and half road surface.  You can hear the instructor talking to me about technique.  This activity helped me feel how the car behaves when traction is different on either side of the car and how I need to handle the steering wheel to keep the car stable.

As a person with disability and bioptic driver I have additional challenges.  I recognise this and felt this course would be an excellent environment to be taught some things of what not to do and what to do in a controlled setting.  I also felt tentative.  I knew I would be the first bioptic driver the trainers and classmates had ever seen and just like anything I have done in the mainstream.  I got the feeling the instructors were a little tentative with my presence so I did what I could be open and honest about my vision, barriers and support I needed.  As an example, when at distance the instructor motioned to the driver to ‘go’ I asked they use their whole arm for that motion rather than just a small motion.  This allowed me to see the arm movement through my bioptic at a distance.  You can see this in the above video.

Lastly, the skidpan!  Sure it’s a load of fun!  But it’s also a serious learning platform and boy of boy I did love learning here.  These activities assisted me in learning how to control the car around bends in the wet, accelerating into the corner, braking but not stopping and maintaining direction.  We did this with the traction control on and then off.

You should also be aware sometimes you may be tested as a driver without knowing you will be tested!  At the end of my skidpan session I was asked to park my car, and then asked to move it after I had gotten out and walked inside.  They were making sure I was complying to conditions of my licence, i.e. even though I was moving only five meters, I needed to ensure I put on my bioptic and seat belt.  A reminder all, ALWAYS wear your bioptic and comply with your licence conditions!  Here is a video:

Driving is a privilege, not a right.  We know this just as much as anyone as in many of our cases as people with disability we have had to fight so hard to do something we know we can but just differently. In my view I believe these defensive driving courses should be mandatory for ALL people whom have just moved to their provisional licence.

It also shouldn’t be reserved for those whom have done something wrong on the road too.  In my class one teen driver shared a story where she was driving on a two-lane road, indicated to change lanes, moved over and smashed into the car in the blind spot.  She did not do a head check, was travelling down a slight decline and both cars were written off.  This incident left an indelible mark on her psyche and she was scared to drive.  This stuff does happen, lets make sure as people with disability it is not us whom are doing these things.  Lets also make sure its not us whom were not prepared for the car moving mover into our lane and get hit.  I can say this has nearly happened on the road to me which meant I had to brake slightly in a safe manner being aware of the position of the traffic around me whilst beeping my horn to stop the person from moving over – they heard my horn, obviously got scared themselves as their car swayed from side to side as they over corrected the steering wheel to get back into their lane.  This stuff happens - don’t let it be you.  There are heaps of things we can learn as drivers that impact driver behaviour to create safer driving practices and you’ll learn much by attending one of these courses.

Even if you are just looking for something get to know your car better and testing your driving boundaries, then give this a go.  Might scare the pants off some but, better it happens in this controlled setting so you are taught what to do in case it happens out there on the road.  You’ll love it!