March 18 – On this day in Montana History in 1963 it was easy to see that driving was getting a whole lot safer in Montana. The Highway Patrol for the first time was allowed to require eye exams for all persons renewing their driver’s license. Eye exams had been required on initial applications for several years, but it was not required for renewals if done on time. Supervisor Alex Stephenson of the Patrol said, “many senior citizens driving on our highways today have never been required to demonstrate their ability to operate a car safely and never had an eye examination.” The roads will be safer, he said, because “few admit they failed to see other cars when involved in an accident.”