MOT decision leaves 1 in 10 at ‘dangerous defects’ risk

Published:  08 July, 2020

The government is being accused of taking “a serious safety risk” by allowing millions of motorists to keep their cars on the road until January 2021 without a current MOT.

While drivers with MOTs due from 1 August will need to get a MOT as normal, those with a MOT due date on or before 31 July will still receive a six-month exemption from testing.

Analysis of the latest DVSA data by comparison service BookMyGarage, shows that 9.1% of cars on the road today could be officially classified as having ‘dangerous defects’, with tyres and brakes accounting for the majority of faults.

DfT show that defective tyres were a contributing factor in 17 fatal accidents in 2018 and caused a total of 459 accidents in the year. Faulty brakes were to blame for more than 500 accidents and 15 fatalities.

While with one in three vehicles fail their MOT every day in normal conditions, BookMyGarage expect the average failure rate during 2020 to increase as a result of the exemption.

Karen Rotberg, Managing Director of BookMyGarage, observed: “It was a sensible policy during lockdown, when vehicle use was limited, but the whole point of the MOT is to make sure dangerous vehicles are not on our roads for the sake of the driver, passengers and other road users,” said

She added: “The government is taking a serious safety risk now though and we urge motorists to take a common-sense view.”

The Top 5 'Dangerous Defects' recorded by more than 65,000 MOT testers across the UK between July and September 2019 were tyres, which made up 58.1% of all dangerous defects recorded, followed by brakes at 29.3%, suspension at 5.5%, chassis at 2.4% and lights on 2%.   For more information visit: https://bookmygarage.com/blog/safety-warning-for-motorist-looking-to-maximise-mot-exemption/

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