Till Örebro universitet

Access to transport, and thus accessibility to desired and needed activities, is of importance for the individual's welfare and subjective well-being. In many western contexts, land use and infrastructure are configured for the benefit of cars. A withdrawn driving license (WDL) might thereby affect welfare and subjective well-being. Further, if the WDL is perceived as unfair, trust for authorities involved in the WDL process can be affected. The overall aim is to explore changes of having a WDL due to visual field loss (VFL), concerning transport-related welfare and trust in authorities. Four studies were conducted, and both qualitative and quantitative methods have been used. The results showed that the WDL had led to negative welfare consequences for the respondents, such as ended careers, limited or ceased opportunities for leisure activities, and difficulties managing daily errands. These consequences can be explained by lacking or unsatisfactory alternative transport arrangements (study I). Also, the WDL had led to worsen overall subjective wellbeing. This can, for example, be explained by the respondents' perception of unsatisfactory access to transport means, to live a life to be satisfied with (study II). The respondents perceived the vision tests on which the WDL isbased as unfair, as they do not measure individual driving ability related to traffic safety. Perceptions of outcomes and processes were fueled by experiences of deficiencies regarding, for example, performance and information, leading to a decrease in trust in the authorities involved in the process of WDL due to VFL: the Health Care (the physician being obligated to report the VFL to the Swedish Transport Agency), the Swedish Transport Agency (decisions on WDL), and the Judicial system (decisions in cases of appeals) (study III). Gender had no effect on trust for none of these authorities. Though, diagnosis (reasons for VFL) had effect, and differences in degree oftrust for each of the three authorities were seen, related to type of diagnosis. The results also showed that low trust related to WDL process can generate lower trust in authorities in general (53%) (study IV). Finally, the thesis contributes to insights of goal conflicts that driving license withdrawals can entail, dealing with issues of safety, accessibility, and justice.