Two-year MOT interval “a known risk to road safety”

Cost of vehicle maintenance insignificant compared to human cost of a casualty caused by an incident that could have been avoided, TyreSafe warns

Two-year MOT interval “a known risk to road safety”

TyreSafe is the latest to ask the government to reconsider a proposal to change the requirement for an MOT test from every year to every two years.

The call comes amidst fears of the likely increase in the number of unroadworthy vehicles on the road that such an extension in intervals would cause.

The test was updated in 2018 to include new categories for defects, including ‘dangerous defects’.

Since its introduction, of the 7.7 million vehicles failing their first MOT test there are over two million tyre defects, 59 per cent of which are categorised as ‘dangerous’.

Related: Petition opposing dangerous two-year MOT plans gains momentum

Stuart Jackson, TyreSafe chair, said: “While TyreSafe respects the government’s intention to reduce the financial burden on households, cutting corners on safety is not a responsible solution.

“The price paid in maintaining a vehicle in roadworthy condition is insignificant compared with the human cost of a casualty caused by an incident which might have been avoided.

“TyreSafe research shows time and again there is a reluctance among a large number of Britain’s motorists to maintain their tyres to an appropriate level of roadworthiness.

“Our Tread Depth Survey with National Highways revealed over a quarter of tyres were already illegal when replaced, meaning 10 million vehicles a year could be on our roads with illegal and dangerous tyres.

Related: MOT fraud on the rise, DVSA figures show

“Without the annual MOT, it’s clear that number would be far greater as would be the risks to all road users.

“Vehicles are increasingly more reliable, efficient, and safe but all of them require regular inspection to ensure wearable, maintenance parts are in good order.

“None of these is more vulnerable to damage than tyres, the only point of contact with the road, directly influencing the performance of a vehicles’ ability to brake and steer.

“If government wishes to achieve the reduction in casualties on our roads, it needs to rethink extending the MOT to every two years for all road users sake.”

4 Comments

  1. Couldn’t agree more – what also needs to be remembered is that the MOT is a minimum standard only and would for the most part fall well short of a basic servicing standard

    Reply
  2. As Stephen Said vehicles are tested to a minimum standard and can still pass an MOT test with a dangerous advisory, can`t fail brake pads unless it`s metal to metal.
    The test would have to get a lot tougher before the two year testing comes out and that means the cost of the test would have to go up ( for the first time in years).

    Reply
  3. Peter There is no such thing as a dangerous advisory

    Reply
  4. Oh yes there is Ronnie. With the ‘manual’ (free text) facility there is the option to select ‘dangerous’ tick-box.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

Have your say!

2 1

Lost Password

Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.