Police in Wales, UK have become amateur optometrists and are setting up roadblocks to force drivers to stop for "voluntary" eye examinations. Five hundred motorists were tested Wednesday on the A4042 in Gwent in an operation funded by the National Public Health Service for Wales and the Gwent Healthcare Trust.

"We wanted to ask if there was an issue with drivers' eyesight," Inspector Glyn Fernquest told the Western Mail newspaper. "It's not about stopping people and giving them big fines -- that's not about road safety."

Stopped motorists were asked to read license plates mounted on poles at various distances. A single motorist failed the test because he forgot to put on his glasses. After putting them on, he passed. Police are just testing the viability of the idea and are not yet ready to turn it into a ticketing program

Last year in Essex police set up a similar roadside eye exam program.