Street Smarts: There’s a dot? I don’t see a red dot

I went in to renew my driver’s license a few days ago and got bad news.

The last time I was in, I wore glasses. Since then, I had Lasik eye surgery.

Thanks to my surgery, my test was going fine — I could see perfectly. I saw all the letters, down to the smallest ones.

Then, at the end of the test, I failed. I could not put a dot in the box.

Yikes.

The dot-in-the-box test involves looking into a device where a red laser dot appears inside a rectangle. The examiner asks you to describe where in the rectangle a dot appears. I couldn’t do it.

I was told I should immediately get my vision checked, and that I needed my eye doctor to sign a form to prove that I could see. Otherwise, I was not fit to drive.

“The dot-in-the-box test is designed to test an individual’s binocular vision to see if a condition called a phoria exists,” said Brad Benfield, spokesman for the state Department of Licensing. “It appears as though you have developed some type of phoria since your vision was last tested.”

He said there are several types of phorias and “some are serious enough to affect the ability to drive.”

I got in to see an optometrist right quick, and she passed me with flying colors. I explained to her that I can only see out of one eye at a time, and that’s how it’s been my whole life.

That’s normal, she said, and apparently a kind of phoria. She said my condition is very similar to a person who has only one eye. She said the state should not have failed me.

Benfield said it’s state policy to require a vision test the first time a “phoria” shows up. Once a doctor says you’re fine to drive, then you should never be bothered with it again, he said.

“Our goal with the vision test is to clear drivers, not to fail them,” Benfield said. “If an individual doesn’t pass one or more of the vision screening sections, our policy is to request a vision certification from a vision professional because our licensing service representatives are not medical professionals and they are not qualified to diagnose medical issues.”

Fair enough. I’m just glad that I got my driver’s license renewed.

Will state fix dings?

Question: Frequently, while driving on the grated areas on I-5, rocks have struck and chipped my front windshield. I’m wondering if other motorists are experiencing the same problem and what process exists that would allow us to have the state look at the problem and provide us a remedy.

Mark Thacker, Kirkland

Answer: Whenever we resurface a roadway we hear from concerned drivers whose windshields and vehicles have been damaged by flying debris. The project on I-5 in Everett is no exception.

Our contractors do everything they can to ensure the safety of drivers and their vehicles, including using sweeper trucks every night to clear debris from ground-down pavement. It’s impossible to get a perfectly clean surface, especially because debris comes loose during normal traffic.

The state has a process in place for drivers to file a claim if they believe their vehicle was damaged by roadwork. Find out more about the process by calling the DOT’s Risk Management Office at 800-737-0615 or at www.ofm.wa.gov/rmd/tort.

Ryan Bianchi, state DOT spokesman