Around 13,000 drivers in Northern Ireland failed to turn up for their MOT test in the final three months of 2022.
This is according to figures released by the Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA).
Speaking about the record number of no-shows, the DVA’s chief executive Jeremy Logan told UTV: ”That’s just over 4000 per month and in a day of testing we would do in and around 3000 tests, and on a very good day around 4000 tests per day.
”So, we’re losing essentially a day of testing each month because of people that fail to attend for their appointments,” he added.
”That’s disappointing because it means that that capacity is lost, those appointments can’t be reallocated to anybody else. And also disappointing for the customer as they lose their test fee when they don’t turn up for an appointment.”
The DVA faced criticism in 2020 when lift failures at Northern Ireland’s MOT centres caused significant disruption and cost £3.9m in cancelled tests.
This, combined with the effects of the pandemic, meant that capacity struggled to keep up with demand. Tests are now being completed at pre-pandemic rates, the DVA says.
Jeremy Logan added: ”We have 15 test centres and those test centres are now opening seven days a week, including bank holidays to meet the demand for test. I must commend the staff and the centre management teams for the effort they have put in.”