Eye test for learners on the Internet.

THE traditional number plate reading test for learner drivers could soon be a thing of the past.

Experts at Aston University have recently completed the world's first Internet-based survey into driver reaction times, and say this could be the way forward for checking motorists' sight and, more importantly, their visual awareness.

The Driver Reaction Time Simulator (DRTS) study was designed by scientists at the university's Vision Sciences Department to test the accuracy of drivers' visual attention.

Through a website computer simulation of pedestrians stepping into the road, the study of 2,000 motorists found that at a speed of 30mph, drivers seeing pedestrians wearing reflective clothing could reduce stopping distances by up to five metres.

The findings are good news for the study's sponsors Vauxhall and their Glow Power campaign aimed at encouraging children to wear reflective clothing - especially now the clocks have gone back.

In 1997 42 child pedestrians aged up to 15 were killed and 2,788 seriously injured in the East and West Midlands, yet a staggering 88 per cent of West Midlands children still wear either dark blue or black coats in the winter.

Andrew Howard, head of the road safety at the AA, said: "Vauxhall's DRTS survey proves that parents can make children safer on the road just by making sure that they wear reflective clothing.

"This, coupled with careful driving - especially when darker evenings draw in - can help to keep our kids safer on the roads."

For the next three years Nicola Phelts, a fulime PhD student at Aston University, is to look into developing the study, with a view to possibly creating an alternative to the current DVLA eye test.

"We aim to make this more immediately relevant," said Dr Mark Dunne of the Vision Sciences department."