Driver attitudes towards six-month MOT exemption revealed in new survey

Majority of drivers not inclined to use extension over fears for road safety and backlog of tests

Driver attitudes towards six-month MOT exemption revealed in new survey
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Around 40 per cent of drivers won’t be making use of the current six-month MOT exemption, a survey of 2,200 UK drivers has suggests.

Just one-in-seven drivers (14 per cent) surveyed by the RAC say they will make full use of the extra six months added to MOT due dates, with three times that proportion (44 per cent) planning on getting their car checked as normal despite the impact of the coronavirus.

Of those drivers who don’t plan on using the full MOT extension, 52 per cent say it is because they want to ensure essential safety checks are made at the right time, while 40 per cent are confident their cars are in good working order and want them to pass their MOTs as soon as possible.

Related: Six-month MOT extension to remain until tests can be “conducted safely”

16 per cent say their reason is that they are worried there will be a huge backlog of MOT tests as the lockdown is eased further, making it harder to book a test.

Of those who do plan on making use of the full six-month MOT extension, an overwhelming 83 per cent say it is because they are confident in the roadworthiness of their vehicle.

Of all the drivers surveyed, 27 per cent said they weren’t aware of the MOT extension.

When it comes to servicing, 47 per cent of respondents still plan to get their car serviced regardless of the lockdown status, although 37 per cent say they’ll only do this once the lockdown is completely lifted and 13 per cent say they’ll delay their service and get it done to coincide with a later MOT.

Related: 1.1M unroadworthy cars predicted to return to roads as result of six-month MOT exemption

Of those who are waiting for the lockdown to be lifted further, 48 per cent say they are holding off booking a service because they are concerned about visiting garages during the coronavirus outbreak.

Head of RAC motoring services Adam O’Neill said: “Since the coronavirus lockdown took effect, hundreds of thousands of vehicles every month have been missing their normal MOTs and in turn there’s a risk that more unroadworthy cars are now on our roads, especially as many more of us are now driving compared to March.

“It’s encouraging therefore to see that a large proportion of people we surveyed clearly care about the condition of their cars and aren’t being put off from getting them through their MOTs or serviced as normal.

Related: MOT tester stopped by police for driving car without MOT

“But at the same time there understandably remains some drivers who are worried about how safe it is to visit a garage during the pandemic.

“The key to encouraging drivers to book MOTs and servicing as they normally would is to reassure them that garages have made the right adjustments to keep them and their staff safe.”

The survey results follows a response from Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps to a letter from the Independent Garage Association which called for end to the six-month MOT exemption.

Mr Shapps revealed that the extension would not be lifted until tests can be “conducted safely” with the “lowest possible risk” to the health of motorists and staff.

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Home Page Forums Attitudes towards six-month MOT exemption revealed in new survey

Viewing 18 posts - 1 through 18 (of 18 total)
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  • #196919 Reply

    Around 40 per cent of drivers won’t be making use of the current six-month MOT exemption, a survey of 2,200 UK drivers has suggests. Just one-in-seven
    [See the full post at: Attitudes towards six-month MOT exemption revealed in new survey]

    #196952 Reply
    Geoff
    Guest

    Dont know who you interviewed the majority are lapping it up , extra 6 months on old cars , they can sell them with this on it , no checks nothing . Garages are up against it and it needs removing straight away .

    #196955 Reply
    Dave
    Guest

    That is a load of troffle I’ve gone from 15ish mot’s a day to 3 a day 6 month extension is going to put mot testers jobs on the line

    #196956 Reply
    Clive
    Guest

    Don’t know where you got those metrics. I agree with Geoff 100%

    #196957 Reply
    Megan
    Guest

    The 6 month extension needs to come to and end and soon. How long can we allow this to continue? They asked us to stay open yet took away all our work with the extension and the closure of most supplier which most garages are still feeling the full force of. As Geoff said the only people actually using the extension are people running old, non road worthy cars. If I had to give a statistic I would say probably 7/10 vehicles which exceeded their date and came in for test have failed. How the DVLA are not checking factual statistics is beyond me.

    #196958 Reply
    Alastair Mayne
    Guest

    Unfortunately most of us ‘in the trade’ know full well that the people who will take the opportunity of saving the cost of their MOT for 6 months who also ‘take the opportunity’ of saving any money that they can by not maintaining their vehicles. How many time has everyone carried out an MOT test for people like this, have told them that it’s failed for really dangerous defects and suggested that they don’t drive the car until it is repaired to be told something like “no, I need it tonight, I’ve promised little Johnny and his mates I’d take them to the football in it”?

    #196959 Reply
    David
    Guest

    A part from loss of income for garages that stayed open, is there any other reported evidence to suggest that road safety has been compromised?

    #196966 Reply
    Dougal
    Guest

    We are finding most customers are having their MOT at the normal date, a few are going a little over to find a convenient date.
    It seems they prefer to get it done while on furlough/ working from home/ kids not at school/ money in the bank because of cancelled holiday.
    Reducing it to a 1 month extension would suit most people.

    #196967 Reply
    Dan
    Guest

    For us people are booking as normal. some because they want to keep their car roadworthy and others because they don’t want a big bill at Christmas!!!!

    #196971 Reply
    STEVE RADFORD
    Guest

    ABSOLUTE RUBISH , MY STATION HAS GONE FROM CARRYING OUT AVERAGE OF 8 TESTS PER DAY PRE LOCKDOWN ,TO 2 IF I AM LUCKY , AND THE KNOCK ON WILL AFFECT MY BUSINESS FOR YEARS TO COME

    #196975 Reply
    Richard donworth
    Guest

    Rubbish mot garages on there knees

    #196976 Reply
    tom
    Guest

    don’t know where you get these figures from every one I know love it that they have 6 months extention because if a scappage scheme comes back in they will have a car with current mot so can trade it in ive gone from 10/15 per day to 3 per day so have judt come back to work after 9 weeks off no rent relax so we are going to struggle

    #196974 Reply
    Richard donworth
    Guest

    Your survey is wrong Mot garages on their knees.and service work gone!!!!

    #196993 Reply
    john
    Guest

    if its too dangerous to do mots (that is why they wont lift the extension) then surely the mot system should have been shut down, its just yet another cock up by dvsa they do nothing for us, the mot system should be run by a governing body that knows what it is doing and helps there garages that do the job

    #197006 Reply
    JO GIBBONS
    Guest

    If your garage is open I wouldn’t advise delaying your MOT or vehicle service, particularly if you are actively using your vehicle. Not only could your vehicle not be roadworthy you could be facing a much inflated repair bill due to the lack of maintenance. I can foresee an increase in breakdowns and roadside repairs, this isn’t good for anyone. 

    #197283 Reply
    Ann Zemlik
    Guest

    We have found that the majority of our customers are not taking advantage of the extension. We presumed that trade would be quiet when we returned after lockdown but we have been very busy with both tests and servicing.

    #197286 Reply
    PhillW
    Guest

    The RAC needs to stop doing Rubbish Surveys that are completely inaccurate and use the money more wisely on there core business of answering the phone when I brake down and on more mechanics in vans and making sure there computers are showing the right up to date information I have more phone calls than ever before from customers asking me if there MOT has been extended At least 90% even though I warm them of the caveat of road worthiness decide they would rather spend the money later on there MOT and Service

    #197456 Reply
    Murray
    Guest

    I’m sorry, but this is not the case in the vast majority of cases we have experienced. MoT and associated repair work fell off a cliff. 99% of the people we speak to are happy to utilise this delay for as long as possible to put off the expense and are seemingly doing the same with servicing. The Gov makes clear you must keep the car roadworthy despite this, so the reposibility sits with the car user/owner regardless.

Viewing 18 posts - 1 through 18 (of 18 total)

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