Former driver sees opportunity in vision loss prevention program

BOSTON — A former truck driver who lost his vision in a motorcycle accident has launched a program to help educate truckers about their vision they may take for granted.

Mark Harter has been a trucking enthusiast since he was a teenager, running an antique trucks web site for years, even after he realized his dream of becoming a truck driver.

He was a flatbed driver — a steel hauler — for more than five years, going into operations in 2003. But he still drove a truck about once a month until a motorcycle accident robbed him of much of his vision in 2005, leaving him legally blind. He’s still in operations, working for Pennsylvania-based Beemac trucking.

But he wanted to find a way to get truckers to stop taking their vision for granted. So he founded Eyes On The Road, in conjunction with the Schepens Eye Research Institute in Boston and the trucker web site Truck.Net.

The heart of the education program at this point is the web site, www.eyesontheroad.org, which has information on vision diseases such as age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, dry eye, glaucoma and myopia. Tips for truck drivers to help take care of their vision include avoiding smoking, wearing sunglasses, and staying hydrated and well-rested. You can read about the 32-year-old and how he was driven to start this effort.

Harter is also working with the Midnight Trucking Radio Network to provide vision tips for truckers.

“Vision is such a central part of a driver’s job, but people take it for granted every day,” Harter says. “I don’t want people to feel sorry for me, I just want people to know here’s how you can take care of yourself.”

— Via Truckinginfo.com, Deborah Lockridge