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Eye Exam at DMV

1K views 24 replies 11 participants last post by  nodak3  
#1 · (Edited)
I have to do a change of address and get driver's license changed to Real ID. I don't know if that will require an eye test or not, but the last time I barely passed.

What causes a problem is that a number, like 3 will morph into an 8 and then back to a 3. If my brain doesn't clearly recognize the number, it guesses at similar "numbers" it has in memory. The same with serif fonts.

I asked ChatGPT for some help.

I found it interesting. The main things it recommended were caffeine, eye drops, looking above/next to confusing characters, staying off screens for an hour or 2 before eye test, blinking a lot, and using my red light.

ETA: I just asked about using an ice pack and ChatGPT said yes, but added some timing details.
 
#2 ·
You could go to the one where I did an eye test and give them letters instead of numbers and still pass.
At the time I took the test the coating was flaking off the lenses of my glasses. I had already ordered new glasses but they hadn't arrived.

I don't think one number off will matter that much.

Did your chatbot also suggest wearing sunglasses during your drive to the BMV? Sunlight strains my eyes and makes it harder for me to read tiny numbers for a while after going indoors.
 
#3 ·
I failed the eye exam when to get a TN. license in 2014, got an eye exam, new glasses, and a letter stating my corrected vision. That was accepted. If you haven't had a recent eye exam, get one.
 
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#4 ·
Just memorize the numbers/letters the guy in line in front of you gave. That's a joke, of course, well sort of a joke. My uncle did this to get into the Army during the Korean War. During his enlistment physical, he just repeated what the guy in front of him said. He passed and got in. During boot camp, the range officer figured something was up with this new recruit. My uncle couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with his M1. He did get an honorable discharge though. Later in life, he was classified to be "legally blind."
 
#5 ·
I failed. I think it's those darned machines.

ChatGPT said to make a string of white numbers on a black background, Times Roman, 36 point, and read it at arm's length. I can read 28 pt at 36", so something isn't right. I can read road signs with no trouble. There was a sign all the way across the DMV office, and at an angle from me, that said Dealers Drop Off. It was a good 30" from me.

When I tested, I saw double. The woman had to tell me they were single digits, because I was seeing numbers like 15 and 47. For some reason, I had double vision.

I first tried to get an eye exam at the vision center about 1/2 mile from me. Booked until September. I called their other office in the next town. They were booked until October. Finally got an appointment at Walmart, but it isn't until July 1. She said they see 50 patients a day.

ETS:
You’re far from alone. Many people — especially over 40, or with even tiny vision quirks — report:
“I see fine in the real world but fail the DMV machine test.”
There’s even a term for it among optometrists: "instrument myopia" — temporary near blur or distortion caused by looking into unfamiliar optical devices like microscopes, scopes, or DMV testers.
 
#6 ·
if a 3 morphs into an 8 , you have an astigmatism , you should get that corrected with glasses

you will likely find reading road signs much easier

I pass the DMV with ease typically and I have glasses I wear daily , now bifocals
my 21 year old son had stopped wearing his glasses after high school and just got new ones this year , he thought his vision was good-enough and he could easily pass the DMV test , getting new glasses that are right for him he realized how much he was missing.
 
#7 ·
it isn't just what you can see , it is the detail of what you can see in 0.015 second

a better eye exam at the DMV would be moving letters one at a time coming at you from various angles and directions and you would have to both identify the letter and the direction and have them coming at you at a simulated 88feet per second 60mph

if you fail the state minimum , you are already in scary driver territory even if you don't know it.
 
#8 ·
I see road signs fine. There have been times on an Interstate, where sometimes the signs are at a greater distance,and I have to get close before I can see the difference between 55 and 65, but that's the rare exception.

I believe the primary problem is "instrument myopia". I made a point, when I left the DMV, to check out every sign on the road. No problem whatsoever reading them. I even try reading advertising signs at a distance, and see fairly well.

The reason I believe it is "instrument myopia" is that I think I threw a brand net pair of binoculars away because of it. I bought the binoculars, but set them aside without using them. Over a year later, I tried to use them, but I couldn't get them to focus. Exactly what would happen if I have "instrument myopia".
 
#9 · (Edited)
I just did an online test and my visual acuity seems to be 20/50 or better. At the 20/40 line, I had trouble distinguishing a Y from a T and an F from an H, but I got some of the line right, so probably 20/45 if that was such a thing. It varies from 20/40 to 20/50, state by state, for minimum visual acuity. In Louisiana, it is 20/40, so I need to either improve my vision in the next month or get glasses.

That wouldn't have helped with the test. I was having double vision.

As I understand instrument myopia, here's what happens. When you look at an object that is 10' away, your eyes automatically adjust so that both your left and right eye see the object at 10' distance, and combine the images into 1 image. At 5', each eye sees the object, but your vision has not yet combined them into 1 image. That's basically what is happening. When I look into the vision machine, my right and left eye each sees the object, but my brain thinks it's farther away and does not combine the 2 images into 1, so I see 33 instead of 3, and the 33 is blurred because the numbers partly overlap. Or maybe it thinks it is closer. In either case, the 2 images are not correctly being combined into 1.
 
#20 ·
because your driver can pull up a couple more feet and you can still get your money out.
just from the back window or getting out of the car and standing at the drive up ATM as I have had to do.

in WI there is a lady who is completely blind who has a concealed weapons license.
at the time of issue her 16 year old son who went nearly every where with her , was trained in handgun use , but was too young to carry legally , so they took the required training together and since there is no shooting test in WI , she was issued a concealed weapons license and she has to be the person carrying it , however the holster is set up for him to draw and use the gun should it be needed.

I have been driving a family member around with a wheel chair recently , taking them to appointments and some travel , actually pushing the chair around and living the struggles really makes you understand the difficulties better.

ever wonder why the number is 3/4 of an inch max change between sidewalk sections , because 1 inch will about throw you out of a standard wheel chair when you hit that
 
#13 ·
That was my 1st thought - that the eye drops had resulted in double vision, but why only when looking into their machine? I could read signs on the wall, even at 30'. I did a few eye tests using my computer, and never saw double on any of them.

But I do agree. If I am going to use eye drops, I need to make sure to use the right ones.

Just ordered the Systane. I would describe my eyes as always feeling tired, and there were several comments saying Systane had helped their tired eyes.
 
#15 ·
Why? Does not visiting an optometrist result in double vision at the DMV?

I have an appointment scheduled. I know I have bad vision in one eye, and maybe that's what triggered the double vision looking through the machine. If I had trouble reading street signs, I would have already gone to the optometrist, but I don't.
 
#21 ·
I set up an eye chart so I could test myself and see if there is any improvement.

Just for the heck of it, I stood 10' away and shone a flashlight on the chart. I could read every character through the 20/40 line easily. No fuzziness or blurring. The next line down is 20/32 and that was fuzzy, although I could make out a couple of the letters.
 
#23 ·
Random thoughts: whatever eye drop you choose, make sure it is preservative free. Otherwise they can actually damage your eyes. Systane is ok, I really prefer Refresh PF or Refresh PF extra. My vision has improved tremendously since I started the drops for dry eye disease.

If you are into charts, get a snellen chart. Cheap on amazon or wallyworld, but you have to stand 20 feet, not 10, for them to be accurate. You can also get a Jaeger to check close vision, and even an astigmatism chart.

If there is a problem with your binocularity, even on devices, glasses that are updated should help. I tell the dmv eye examiner that I don't need glasses to see to drive since my cataract surgery, but do on their device. However, I also disclose I will be using glasses at the midrange level and standing back a bit from the machine. I always pass, but they do tell me if I can't pass on the machine to ask for manual testing. My difficulty with the machines is due to my macular degeneration, but keeping my face back a few inches works fine if I take my trifocals.
 
#25 ·
Indeed there are! But the gold standard is the 20 ft snellen. If you are near sighted, even a test designed for 10 ft might skew your results. My distance vision is better than 20/20 slightly. However, the pesky machines are not 20 ft away from me, lol. So even though set to test my distance vision all they successfully test on me is contrast sensitivity. Hence wearing my glasses and using the mid range. Nice compromise.