A motoring organisation has slammed the proposed relaxing of the rules on MOT tests, saying it “could result in making our roads far more dangerous”.
This comes as Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) data analysed by the RAC reveals that lights, reflectors and indicators continue to be the most frequent reasons for vehicles failing an MOT.
Problems with brakes and tyres are more likely to lead to the most serious failures.
Failures for non-working headlights, indicators and reflectors accounted for just over a quarter (25.5 percent) of all MOT failures in the 12 months to March 2022, while faulty or broken suspensions represented just under a fifth (19.4 percent) of all failures.
Problems with brakes (16.4 percent) and tyres (12 percent) were the third and fourth biggest reasons for an MOT failure, with bad visibility – likely cracks on windscreens – rounding up the top five, representing just 8.7 percent of all MOT failures.
While a third of all initial MOT tests of cars, vans and small passenger vehicles – the equivalent to 7.3m vehicles – resulted in a fail and mean drivers need to fork out for remedial repair work, nearly one-in-10 tests – 8 percent, equivalent to 2.4m vehicles – worryingly result in a fail where at least one dangerous defect had been found.
In these most serious cases, where an examiner states a vehicle cannot be driven until that defect is repaired, brakes and tyres represent 88 percent of all such failures, emphasising just how critical it is for drivers to carry out routine checks on these items.
Although the biggest causes of MOT failures have remained consistent over many years, the proportion of tyre failures has increased slightly from 10 percent in 2018-19 to 12 percent in 2021-22.

RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said: “Many drivers dread taking their vehicle for its annual MOT for fear they could end up having to spend lots of money on repairs in order to get it to pass. This is no doubt the case for an unlucky third of owners whose vehicles fail their MOTs initially.
“Drivers should never ignore dashboard warning lights as they could end up putting themselves or others at risk and costing themselves a lot of money with a bigger repair bill than necessary had they acted straightaway. Additionally, routine servicing helps reduce the chance of a vehicle failing its MOT as it includes a host of important basic checks.
“With more than 7.3m small passenger vehicles initially failing their MOTs, and alarmingly around 2.4m of these failures having at least one dangerous defect, the idea of relaxing rules on MOT tests could very well result in making our roads far more dangerous with the number of unroadworthy vehicles increasing.
”We hope the Government has finally consigned such an idea to the bin.”