# Why do I need a prescription for eyeglasses? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 13, 2015, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-a-prescription-for-eyeglasses/717549 "2015-04-13T06:06:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-a-prescription-for-eyeglasses/717549/41 "2015-04-14T14:04:49Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > There is no lower age limit for glaucoma, I wonder where you got that idea? Might have confused it with cataracts. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-a-prescription-for-eyeglasses/717549/42 "2015-04-14T14:15:28Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Might have confused it with cataracts. There’s no lower age limit for cataracts either. They’re just rarer in younger people. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-a-prescription-for-eyeglasses/717549/43 "2015-04-14T14:53:56Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > The justification about vision with regard to driving doesn’t make sense in most cases because most jurisdictions don’t require regular vision tests on license renewal. Is this really true? I get a quick eye exam every time I renew my license. I just look in a box on the counter and there’s a screen where various things wiggle in your peripheral vision and you have to click a button to show you saw it. I’m in Illinois, and I think it is a statewide policy. I lived in Kansas for awhile ten years ago, and I seem to recall having my eyes checked at the DMV there, too, but I could just be misremembering. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-a-prescription-for-eyeglasses/717549/44 "2015-04-14T15:07:38Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Is this really true? I get a quick eye exam every time I renew my license. I just look in a box on the counter and there’s a screen where various things wiggle in your peripheral vision and you have to click a button to show you saw it. I’m in Illinois, and I think it is a statewide policy. > > I lived in Kansas for awhile ten years ago, and I seem to recall having my eyes checked at the DMV there, too, but I could just be misremembering. Here in California, you often get a renewal( or several in a row) by mail. I think it’s more likely if you’re accident/ticket free but that’s a guess. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-a-prescription-for-eyeglasses/717549/45 "2015-04-14T15:12:34Z")
OK, that’s was badly phrased. I meant I think it was more likely to go in to renew and get the eye exam. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-a-prescription-for-eyeglasses/717549/46 "2015-04-14T15:32:40Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Here in California, you often get a renewal( or several in a row) by mail. I think it’s more likely if you’re accident/ticket free but that’s a guess. In 17 years the only time I’ve had to go in was when I turned 60 or so, and got a new picture and an eye exam. And the eye exam was given by a guy while we were in line (very efficient) and not something I’d want to bet my vision on. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-a-prescription-for-eyeglasses/717549/47 "2015-04-14T18:52:58Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > I think it’s more likely if you’re accident/ticket free but that’s a guess. Probably right. Four years is a long time for me to go without a speeding ticket, so I’ve never been able to get a new license by mail. I wish we had Arizona’s drivers licenses that are good for 50 years. ---
**Author:** ![Itself](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d07c76/32.png) [@Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-a-prescription-for-eyeglasses/717549/48 "2015-04-15T00:34:19Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > In 17 years the only time I’ve had to go in was when I turned 60 or so, and got a new picture and an eye exam. And the eye exam was given by a guy while we were in line (very efficient) and not something I’d want to bet my vision on. I haven’t lived here long enough to test it, but I believe the setup in Massachusetts is that your license expires every five years, but you only have to renew in person (with the new picture, vision test, etc.) every ten years. As unpleasant as the process is, ten years seems like a quite a long time to be driving without a vision test. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-a-prescription-for-eyeglasses/717549/49 "2015-04-15T01:40:29Z")
When are self-driving cars going to make most of this moot, already? ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-a-prescription-for-eyeglasses/717549/50 "2015-04-15T01:41:47Z")
> [@Itself](#): > > I haven’t lived here long enough to test it, but I believe the setup in Massachusetts is that your license expires every five years, but you only have to renew in person (with the new picture, vision test, etc.) every ten years. As unpleasant as the process is, ten years seems like a quite a long time to be driving without a vision test. I think the presumption (by the individual states) is that people with vision problems will get regular eye exams and that people without vision problems will get exams when they realize they can’t see as well as they could. The reason for the eye exam for getting a driver’s license (I suspect) is that it would be irresponsible for the state to issue a license to someone who cannot see, so you have to prove a minimal amount of visual acuity to get a license. The posts that are implying that reason for a annual eye exam is to insure safe drivers is just noise and not really important. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-a-prescription-for-eyeglasses/717549/51 "2015-04-15T04:24:09Z")
> [@astro](#): > > I use [www.eyebuydirect.com](http://www.eyebuydirect.com) and they just require you input your prescription data. There is no “within the last year” check they do. I ordered glasses with a 3 year old prescription and they work fine. Zenni Optical as well. There is a legal requirement that you have an unexpired **contact lens** prescription. When ordering **glasses** , they don’t check the date, and you could even make up numbers if you wanted to. > [@skdo23](#): > > In my experience, whenever my prescription has needed to be modified, my eyesight had always changed so gradually between check-ups that I was completely unaware that my current prescription was no longer adequate to help me see clearly. I once found out that even when wearing my glasses/contacts that had been prescribed about 18 months earlier, I would not have passed the eye test at the DMV. This. But every time someone posts something like this, someone else says “Nuh-uh! I can totally tell if my vision has changed. And it hasn’t!” Sorry, you’re full of shit, fictional but common person. Your vision does not exist in a vacuum. This thread is timely. Not 20 minutes ago I realized it’s probably time to go for a checkup when I had trouble seeing something through optics. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-a-prescription-for-eyeglasses/717549.md?page=2)