Transport department workers assessing vision-impaired drivers for licences do not have adequate guidelines to determine who is unfit to drive, an inquest into the death of a South Australian grandfather has heard.
The South Australian Coroners Court is examining the death of Quorn man Robert Hall, who was riding his mountain bike on the side of the Horrocks Highway when he was struck from behind by a four-wheel drive in 2018.
The driver, John Charles Robertson, had permanent eyesight loss due to a stroke but had been given his licence back, despite having a severely restricted field of vision.
The South Australian Department for Infrastructure and Transport's director of regulation, Stuart Gilbert, was called to give evidence at the inquest on Friday morning.
He said the national driving licence guidelines do not adequately define which vision impairments should, and should not, be considered for a licence.
"The guidelines for the issuing of conditional licences don't put parameters around the visual field range for a conditional drivers licence," Mr Gilbert told the inquest.
"I think at a national level it would be a need for there to be greater clarity about what limitations there are when it comes to issuing any conditional driver's licence."
Mr Gilbert said the department had made a submission, as part of a review of the national guidelines, seeking more clarification about those issues.
'No one is taking responsibility'
The inquest heard the department has not conducted a review of Mr Hall's death and it still assessed vision impaired drivers in much the same way.
Mr Hall's daughter, Megan Napier, said she was not impressed by the department's evidence.
"No one is taking responsibility, they're kind of palming it off," she said.
"People are still getting their licences when they shouldn't be, and I think now that they see that they shouldn't be."
Ms Napier said dash cam footage from Robertson's vehicle showed how visible her father was on the road.
"He's as clear as day, we all have said multiple times, how could he not be seen?" she said.
Mr Hall's wife, Helen Hall, was emotional as she read a statement to the media outside court
"On the 14th of May 2018 my husband Robert, my best friend, my soul mate, went for a bike ride for the good of his health and didn't come home," she said through tears.
Mrs Hall said she wanted changes to be made to prevent a similar situation happening in future.
"If we can change legislation to make sure that this never happens to anyone again then we have achieved something positive," she said.
'Concerns' noted but driver was 'dismissive', inquest hears
The court heard Robertson did not keep a safe distance from parked cars on his left during a practical driving test, and at one point the instructor had to take the wheel to avoid a collision.
The inquest heard Robertson was "a man with only half his vision" and could only see to his left if he physically turned his head, meaning his ability to drive safely relied on him constantly scanning.
Coroner David Whittle put to Mr Gilbert that a person with Robertson's vision impairment would need to be "constantly scanning" in order to see, for example, a cyclist.
"And so the fundamental thing to be able to assess is whether this person can demonstrate the ability to, and can be trusted to, safely do what's required to see that cyclist, even though they can't see that cyclist if they're just looking straight ahead?" Mr Whittle.
Mr Gilbert agreed.
The coroner then suggested it was a "huge ask" to make such a judgement, to which Mr Gilbert also agreed.
"And you understand perfectly the risk of what happens when someone doesn't constantly scan, don't you?" the coroner then asked.
"Yes," Mr Gilbert replied.
"In this instance, he killed a cyclist," the coroner said.
"Mr Hall, yes," Mr Gilbert replied.
The inquest heard Robertson was dismissive of his condition and told medical staff that he felt the scanning was not necessary as he felt he could drive as well as he did pre-stroke.
Mr Whittle asked Mr Gilbert if there were clear warning alarms that should have been considered.
After stating there were various "considerations to be made" as part of the assessment, Mr Gilbert later conceded there were "concerns".
Mr Gilbert said advice from medical specialists was very "influential" in assessing fitness to drive.
"I don't think we would challenge it or seek further clarification," Mr Gilbert told the court.
The inquest has heard that during at least one driving test that Robertson was required to undertake, the instructor was not informed about his vision impairment.
