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fishnwiz · Joined: 01 Sep 2006 Posts: 70 Location: Tahlequah

How can I arrange to take a physical. I am taking early retirement from the paper company I work for (29 years).I would like to go to school and get a cdl and drive for a few years but I have a concern about the colorblind portion of the test. I have partial red/green color blindness. I can see red and green but lose the light shades before most people. I can tell the difference between traffic signals but I failed a test for a piliots license back in the 1970's that consististed of numbers hidden on little round cards with diffferent colored patterns on them. Is this still the same kind of tests and is requirement the same for piliots and cdl license.I dont want to waste time getting started if I am going to fail the physical.
Any help would be appreciated
Thanks
Bill

Fozzy · Joined: 02 Sep 2005 Posts: 2460

this is probably going to sound silly, and I do not even know if you can do it, but try going to the local DMV and ask to see what equipment they use to define the color blind issue. Some states will not give waivers for colorblindness or vision issues! I had a wonderful student who was just fantastic during the whole course.. He tested out and passed the CDL skills test and when I took him down to the DMV to convert his permit to a hard CDL.. he bombed the colorvision test.. no CDL fir him!

SteveBooth · Joined: 18 May 2005 Posts: 3501

The color test for pilots is very extreme. I'm a pilot and take the test every 2 years. The reason they are tough on pilots with color is due to a high powered set of beams the tower can point at you. If my radio should fail I can turn around in a circle outside the controlled air space. The radar will see me and the tower will give instructions with these colored beams of light and I respond with my headlight. Also, when landing and on the glide slope for final approach there are racks of lights that you can see different colors depending if your on the right angle. Red over white your all right. Red over red, your dead. I don't think the DMV gives color blindness tests, your doctor does. Mine consisted of naming the colors on a plastic M&M dispenser in the exam room.

Uturn2001 · Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2006 3:48 am Post subject:

Nendail wrote: Wow, first I've heard of this.. I got my CDL in MN and no color blind test at all. I'm not CB, but there was no test durring my physical.

Then whoever gave you your physical is either an idiot or very forgetful. Most doctors utilize the dots of one color that form numbers inside other dots of another color or they simply have samples of red, blue, green, yellow, etc and have you tell them what color is what.

To the original poster: Instead of taking a CDL physical, which currently most doctors can give, I would suggest scheduling an eye exam somewhere and have them test for color blindness if they do not do so as part of the exam.

IMHO everyone should have their eyes examined by an eye doctor at least every 2 years unless they have a medical condition like diabetes or high blood pressure that warrents a yearly checkup.

tdriver1959 · Joined: 03 Sep 2006 Posts: 260 Location: Washington

I am tint blind. So every time they try and use the circles with the dots i fail that so the doctor brings out the color yarn (red, green, yellow). Just let them know and they will note it in your records. I have been driving for 20 yrs and pass ever dot physical.

feederfred · Joined: 22 Jun 2006 Posts: 281 Location: Nevada

I am also red/green/brown (kinda ironic isn't it ???) colorblind. I also fail the "book" test, however the law only requires that you be able to distinguish the color of the traffic signals. My doctor then breaks out the box of colored magic markers. I pick out the red, green and yellow and we are good to go. The FAA deal is a whole different thing...

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