To think this person may not be as blind as he says?

[SweetAudrina]

I know a family, a very odd family ... but I'll leave the description there.

Anyway, the man is supposedly blind. Apparantly it happened in a car accident so he wasn't born like that. He has a white stick and wears big black goggles.

BUT ... At various times, I wonder if he really is blind at all.

For instance, a few weeks ago he was outside his house with the bonnet of the car up and he seemed to be working on it.

We have seen him in the local frozen food shop with his 3 year old grandaughter shopping (yes I know blind people can shop but to do this he has to cross a busy road, on his own, with a three year old and then he seems more than capable of choosing food from the freezers, despite the fact that they change it around every week).

The worst one is ... he drives the car. He has driven the car from his house to the school (includes a few busy, main roads) and around the school drive/carpark.

Surely, he cannot be blind, can he?

or am I being unreasonable to even think it?

If he's registered blind and driving then he won't also have insurance.

at the benefit fraud suggestion. I'm sure it's dead easy to persuade a doctor/opthalmologist you are blind. Not.

My optician always tells me off for squinting to try and work out the letters on the eye chart that I really can't see. I doubt it's as easy as pretending you can't read them!

the lights they shine to look inn your eyes and/or drops might just be a giveaway that you are faking it.....

Well, anyone can adopt a white stick and dark glasses, should they so wish.

Is it a proper cane? Long, telscopic, quite thin, and light looking, flat bit at the very end, and does he sweep it from side to side as he walks? Or is it a bad amdram prop?

I know someone who is refused a disabled bus pass on the grounds that she can see enough on a sunny day to legally drive - but on a cloudy day or in the dark or in a sudden shadow she is effectively blind and has little peripheral vision.

The DVLA say she can drive but she doesn't. This man might be similar (whether it;s a good idea for him to drive is a whole other question). Or have a fluctuating condition where sometimes he's fine and other days isn't.
If in doubt call the DVLA.

Only the driving seems dodgy - you can be legally blind, and still do all the rest, I think.

Blind in one eye really isn't the same thing - you're totally allowed to drive, and you don't (afaik) get any sort of disability allowance.

YABU, I am deaf and visually impaired and can drive and have never been in an accident in over 10 years. There are different kinds of 'blindness' and also different kinds of aids available to help people work, drive etc.

Kizzib, ok, but do you use a white stick? I assume you'd have no use for one.

I'm registered visually impaired (6/18 vision, low visual field among other things but can see normally so to speak) and I'm barred from hold a licence. So he's either driving illegally, or committing fraud.

An old neighbour of mine was registered blind and hobbled about in the day time with a white stick. Then at night he would do precision craft work in the shed before removing glasses, dumping stick and heading off to the local pub with a spring in his step. Also quite good at chasing local youths around if they called him names.

He was an absolute ARSE though, always swearing and could hear it through the walls.

Memorable breakfast:

I'm never fcking buying anything from fcking Asda again. This fcking toaster is fcking crap. Look at the fcking state of this fcking toast. What a fcking waste of fcking money. Asda can f*ck off.

Some people are always going to undermine the benefits system by taking the piss. They also make it part of society cast suspicion on everyone else who receives disability benefits.

I am registered partially sighted and most definitely cannot drive any more. In fact I was told by my opthalmologist not to drive long before I was able to be registered as partially sighted.

I just don't get that someone who is totally blind in one eye can drive, surely she can't have a field vision of at least 120 degrees?

The guy with the stick claiming to be registered blind would definitely NOT be allowed to drive. Someone should report him before he kills someone.