Too little too late?

As someone with dreadful eyesight – until it’s corrected anyway – this law-change has got to be good news. Ministers have agreed to an amendment which will allow traffic police to get those deemed to be a risk because of their poor vision off the road within hours. But surely the obvious question is this – why leave it at taking hours? Why can’t they do it instantly? The process should be “You sir/madam are going no further because you’re going to kill someone.” The legislation has been dubbed Cassie’s Law after a teenager killed by a pensioner who had failed a police eye test but refused to give up his licence. Until now the process has taken several working days because a licence revocation notice had to go out by post. By post! This is 2013! Now it’s going to be done by email, presumably from the smartphone of the policeman by the side of the road. I’m sure the mother of Cassie McCord, who has been instrumental in getting this change, is pleased. But it’s not going to bring her daughter back, and the fact this wasn’t being done by email anyway is a crime.