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Vision test for drivers
appears fine

Question: My son failed an eye exam when he went to renew his driver's license at the Pearl City driver licensing station. The line that he was asked to read was blurry. Because he could not respond correctly, he was unable to renew his license. He went to an eye doctor that same day and was told that his eyes were fine. (The doctor said several other patients had come to him recently with the same situation arising from the Pearl City station.) My son returned to the station the next day with the doctor's certificate and renewed his license. I am upset that he had to go twice and that we paid $61 for an unnecessary exam. Is the vision testing equipment working correctly? Are personnel properly trained to operate the equipment? How many others have failed the vision test?

Answer: Based on your complaint, the two vision testing machines at the Pearl City station were checked by the supervising driver's license examiner.

After two hours, during which 42 exams were administered, applicants were randomly interviewed. No one had any objections to the machines, although applicants indicated the test was difficult, said David Mau, assistant administrator of the city Motor Vehicle and Licensing Division.

No similar complaints have been received, and no records are kept to determine the failure rate for eye tests, he said.

"All operators are trained to administer proper eye test exams, and there are self-diagnostics performed to determine malfunctions, if any," Mau said. "If there is a hint of malfunction, the applicant will be tested on the second machine."

Mau said if you provide the doctor's name and number, he would be contacted to obtain more specific information.

Q: There are garbage collection companies who put their huge containers in the street, leaving them out for half an hour or more. After the trash is collected, the containers are again left in the street before another truck puts them back. This occurs weekly on Queen Street, between Richards and Alakea, and on Bethel Street, between Nimitz and Merchant. I am not the only one who has almost driven into these containers. Can you help?

A: Police are having a problem with one private refuse company regarding the situation you describe, said Honolulu Police Department Maj. Kevin Lima.

"The other companies are complying by not leaving their trash bins unattended on the streets," he said. During one recent week, patrol officers made daily checks. On some days no violations were observed; on other days as many as five trash bins were found on the street.

The officers have issued citations and will continue to do so, Lima said.

He also said a police supervisor will contact the private refuse company "to emphasize our concern about this problem and to inform them of the civil liability that (also) would be involved in the event a driver is injured due to their employees' actions."

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