Failed Ishihara Test NJ DOT Physical

BTW, if one of the two plates you CAN see is the gray "8" on an orange field........

........only people with defective color vision can see that one.

That Ishihara guy was one devious SOB...

 

being retired, i actually take a sleep study test several times a day

10 AM, 1PM, and 7PM...

i pass each and every time

now to the o/p's situation.

my left eye has a problem, and i cannot see all the colors properly, for instance green, is really blue in the eye.

red is a wash out.

i had high blood pressure in my early years of driving, before it was diagnosed and it damaged some of the left eye, but, i still never failed that particular eye test.

i suggest a different doctor that is certified for the DOT exams.

 

Just for the record, here is 391.41 (10)

(10) Has distant visual acuity of at least 20/40 (Snellen) in each eye without corrective lenses or visual acuity separately corrected to 20/40 (Snellen) or better with corrective lenses, distant binocular acuity of at least 20/40 (Snellen) in both eyes with or without corrective lenses, field of vision of at least 70° in the horizontal Meridian in each eye, and the ability to recognize the colors of traffic signals and devices showing standard red, green, and amber;


This also should be in the Examiners Manual as well.

 

the problem with that, and i really do recall when i was in driving school it was said (and we all know this), that not all traffic signals are vertical. there are many that are horizontal.

meaning, that if one cannot remember which side the red is on the device, one could just as easily run a red light, thinking it was green.

 

one like this



one like this



one like this





and one like this



see how the red on the last one, is on the opposite side..???

 

I can't either. This color defect prevented me from the Air Force Career field I wanted to get in way back in the 70s. Every time an examiner OR their nurse getting me prepped gets that dang book out I inform them that test is not what the FMCSA wants! Every time but once the examiner did the color bars or took a premade card out and asked me to name the colors. That one time was in Lavonia Georgia and I walked out because the NP doing the physical would not do the color determination as the FMCSA wants it done!

 

Go back and read it again. It does NOT speak to shapes, it refers to seeing colors only!

 

yeah bud i did read it the FIRST time.

if he cannot determine the colors, then when he comes across a horizontal traffic light, he is screwed. as it is now, there are several in my state, and i never remember which way they are set up, over the traditional vertical layout.

his best bet is to try another DOT certified doctor, or better yet, pay his own optometrist fro a full eye exam, then take that report to the DOT doctor.

 

If he can't distinguish those colors he is more than screwed, he is NOT qualified to drive. I know on the signs testing they look for shapes as well as the colors and what is written. To the best of my knowledge, this does not apply to this topic.

 

Below is from the Medical Examiners Handbook I keep a PDF copy for reference. The part close to the middle is the OFFICIAL FMCSA guidance on seeing colors. I don't think I need to make any comments as the words are pretty self-explanatory!