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This month sees more cars than ever before being submitted for an annual MOT, 2.5 million in all. No doubt there will be many that fail, not the test but fail to even be submitted!
Kwik-Fit research suggests that less than half of drivers actually know when their MOT is due to expire or are aware that as their car reaches its third birthday, it will require an MOT.
Indeed, 420,000 cars should be tested for the first time this month. Potentially, therefore, there will be quite a few drivers come October who are driving around illegally without a valid MOT and thus invalidating their vehicle insurance, assuming that they even have that! The penalty for driving without a valid MOT Certificate is a fine of up to £1000.
On the topic of MOT failures, the Department for Transport statistics reveal that failures are on the rise. In 2008, the failure rate was a staggering 35% and the rate continues to rise. Last year, the number of vehicles that failed their MOT inspection was 37%, over a third of vehicles three years or older!
More worrying still is that an MOT Certificate in reality only certifies the road worthiness of any given vehicle on the actual day it was tested. It does not mean that the vehicle is actually roadworthy for the next 364 days and indeed statistically roadworthiness will decline more rapidly as the next MOT becomes due.
As reported in my last blog, brakes, lights, suspension and tyres account for the majority of MOT failures.
Given that in these troubled times, more organisations and owners will be tempted to cut corners on proper vehicle maintenance, it is especially worrying to learn that the Government may bow to pressure and reduce the regularity of MOT checks.
Currently, every vehicle in the UK has to undergo an MOT test within three years of registration and every year thereafter while on the road. In most of the EU, countries comply with the minimum EU law requirement of having vehicles tested before their fourth birthday and every two years thereafter. Imagine the reality, safe for one day and potentially unsafe for 728 days!
The DfT acknowledges that with over 8.5 million cars identified at the MOT test with a defect resulting in failure, reducing the MOT frequency from one to two years would significantly see a rise in the number of unroadworthy vehicles and road casualties.
RoadSafe, the road safety partnership, is up in arms at the prospect and who can blame it. Coming hot on the heels of news that central and local government spending on road safety is already feeling the full blow of the budgetary axe, the prospect of more unroadworthy vehicles on our already congested roads is something not worth contemplating.
The argument for extending the interval between MOT tests and when a vehicle should be first tested is that modern vehicles are far more reliable than their predecessors. That is certainly true but it does not mean that brakes, suspension and tyres do not wear out and that lights do not fail. Indeed, the Tyre Industry Federation has stated that 12% of vehicle tyres are found to be illegal on replacement and it expects the percentage to increase in these constrained economic times.
The fleet industry has its part to play in ensuring that as vehicle leasing contracts are extended they ensure that clients are reminded about the need to have vehicles tested before their due date.
As I have said before, there is no excuse for not ensuring proper vehicle maintenance, either of company or grey fleet cars, given the legislative backdrop placing an onus of duty of care on organisations. Holding a valid MOT Certificate is just one key component of compliance.
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