Illinois DMV Vision Test: Standards, Restrictions, and Reports

The Illinois DMV vision test, administered at any Secretary of State Driver Services facility, requires 20/40 binocular acuity and a 140-degree binocular peripheral field to qualify for a license with no vision-related restrictions.¹ Fall short of either mark and you may still qualify for a restricted license, or you can submit a professional eye exam report in place of the in-office screening.

The Standards You Have to Meet

Illinois Administrative Code Title 92, Section 1030.70 sets the numbers. Both eyes together must read 20/40 or better. In plain terms, that means you can read at 20 feet what someone with normal vision reads at 40 feet — enough clarity for highway signs and hazards.

Peripheral vision is measured at the same time. You need at least 140 degrees binocular, or 70 degrees temporal and 35 degrees nasal in each eye if measured monocularly.¹ That’s the vision that catches a merging car or a pedestrian at the edge of your field.

Each eye is also checked on its own. If either individual eye tests at 20/100 or worse, your license will require left and right outside rearview mirrors even when your combined vision meets the standard.¹

What Happens at the Counter

The screener directs you to a binocular-style machine mounted at the counter. Rows of letters or symbols get progressively smaller, and you read down the chart aloud. The device checks both eyes together first, then each eye alone.

During the same session, small lights flash near the outer edges of the viewing area. You signal when you notice them, either by pressing a button or telling the screener. That measures your peripheral field. The whole screening takes a few minutes and you get results on the spot. Pass, and you move on to whatever else the visit requires. Fail, and you leave with a referral form instead of a license.

What to Bring

Bring your glasses or contacts if you normally wear them to drive. You’re allowed to take the screening with corrective lenses, and the machine records your corrected acuity.¹ Passing only with them puts a corrective-lens restriction on your license.

If you show up without your glasses and fail, you aren’t locked into the result. You can come back another day with them and retake the screening.² Contact lens wearers aren’t asked to remove them, though you can take them out voluntarily if you think you can pass without and want an unrestricted license.¹

Restricted Licenses if You Don’t Reach 20/40

Missing 20/40 doesn’t automatically end your driving. Illinois assigns restriction codes based on what your vision can and can’t do.

Type B, corrective lenses: if you only pass while wearing glasses or contacts, your license notes that you must wear them any time you drive. Driving without is a traffic violation.³
Type G, daylight only: for binocular acuity between 20/41 and 20/70, you can still be licensed but limited to driving during daylight hours, with or without corrective lenses.³
Type F, outside rearview mirrors: required when either eye measures 20/100 or worse alone, or when you can’t hit the peripheral standard binocularly.³

Binocular acuity worse than 20/70, even corrected, is past the line for a standard license. At that point the options are corrective treatment that improves your acuity, or a bioptic telescopic lens arrangement.¹

The Vision Specialist Report

Failing the in-office screening isn’t the end. A licensed ophthalmologist or optometrist can complete a Vision Specialist Report and submit it to the Secretary of State in place of the counter result. The form is available at any Driver Services facility or on the Secretary of State’s website.⁴ You can also submit one proactively, whether you’d rather skip the machine or want to challenge a restriction on your license.

The report counts as current only if the exam was completed within six months before the Secretary of State receives it.⁵ The specialist has to record acuity and peripheral readings, note whether corrective lenses were used, and say whether you meet the state’s standards.

You have 60 days from failing the screening (or from being asked for a report) to get the completed form back to the Secretary of State. Miss the window, or turn in an unfavorable report, and your license is canceled or you’re medically denied driving privileges.² Sixty days sounds like plenty. Scheduling the exam, having the form filled out and signed, and returning it can burn through the calendar quickly. Start early.

Bioptic Telescopic Lenses

Illinois permits driving with bioptic telescopic lenses, small telescopes mounted on regular eyeglasses that people with conditions like macular degeneration use when standard correction can’t reach 20/40. The qualifying rules are more involved than the ordinary screening:

Carrier lens acuity of 20/100 or better in both eyes, meaning your vision through the regular part of the glasses, not the telescope.
Telescopic acuity of 20/40 or better in both eyes through the mounted lenses.
The same 140-degree binocular peripheral standard (or 70 temporal and 35 nasal monocular).
You must have had the telescopic arrangement for at least 60 days before applying.
Lens power is capped at 3.0X wide-angle or 2.2X standard magnification.

First-time telescopic drivers take a road exam scheduled by the Secretary of State’s office after the Vision Specialist Report comes in. Every telescopic lens wearer submits a new Vision Specialist Report each year, and driving is initially restricted to daylight hours.⁴

A Note for Commercial Drivers

If you’re testing for a commercial driver’s license, the passenger-vehicle rules above aren’t the ones that apply to you. Federal standards under 49 CFR 391.41 require each eye individually to meet 20/40 acuity, at least 70 degrees of horizontal field in each eye, and the ability to distinguish red, green, and amber.⁶ Drivers who can’t meet the standard in their worse eye may qualify under 49 CFR 391.44, which replaced the older FMCSA vision exemption program in 2022 and requires a Vision Evaluation Report on Form MCSA-5871.⁷

1
Justia Law. Illinois Administrative Code Title 92 Part 1030 Section 1030-70 – Driver’s License Testing/Vision Screening
2
Illinois Administrative Code. Illinois Administrative Code Title 92 Section 1030-70 – Driver’s License Testing/Vision Screening
3
Cornell Law Institute. Illinois Administrative Code Title 92 Section 1030-92 – Restrictions
4
Illinois Secretary of State. Medical and Vision Conditions
5
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Administrative Code Title 92 Part 1030
6
eCFR. 49 CFR 391.41 – Physical Qualifications for Drivers
7
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. General Vision Exemption Package