A MANseriously hurt in a car accident involving a driver with poor eyesight is urging compulsory eye tests for all motorists.

Gareth Gault, 42, of the Grove, Southend, is backing a national campaign to force drivers to be tested before they are allowed a licence.

Mr Gault was hit, at the age of seven, by a car driven by a motorist wearing an eyepatch.

He ended up being dragged 150 yards along the road by the car, and spent eight months in hospital.

He said: “Once I left hospital, I was wheelchair-bound and then forced to walk around with callipers and crutches before I was finally able to walk again unaided, aged 15. It was a traumatic time for me.

“Another side-effect is the fact I developed early-onset arthritis in my early twenties, because of the crash. The accident is still causing me trouble now.”

Laser eye corrective surgery company Ultralase and motoring charity Brake are running a national petition, calling for a change to the law.

Mr Gault said: “It’s very easy for people to say, ‘oh I’m just popping down the road’ and think nothing will happen because they might only be making a short journey.

“But it only takes a split second for an accident to happen, which can end up ruining lives or, even worse, killing someone.”

In July, Dr Aloke Basu, of Burges Road, Thorpe Bay, was jailed for two years after being convicted of killing 74-year-old Shirley Watkins through dangerous driving as a result of poor eyesight.

The 66-year-old GP was suffering from cataracts in both eyes, chronic glaucoma and short-sightedness.

He hit Mrs Watkins on Eastern Avenue on February 5, 2010.

Before the incident, Dr Basu had twice been asked to contact the DVLA about his eyesight problems and had failed tests at the scene of the accident.