Have the new MOT rules reduced road safety?

In May 2018, new MOT rules were introduced, which categorised any fail as being due to dangerous faults or major faults (instead of a simple pass or fail as for previous MOTs). If you took your test before your MOT expired and it failed due to a major fault, you would be able to drive it away. If it failed due to a dangerous fault you would be prevented from driving it, regardless of the MOT expiry date, until that fault was fixed.

Now these rules have been changed again. As long as your existing MOT has not expired, you are able to drive any failed vehicle home, even if it has a dangerous fault. Although this simplifies things, we would obviously not recommend driving a failed vehicle as it could have a serious impact on road safety.   The public should also be aware that anyone driving with a dangerous or major fault that makes their vehicle unroadworthy (no matter what their MOT status) will be driving illegally and therefore be liable to prosecution and a hefty fine.

For further details regarding MOT testing in general, please click here, and if you should have any concerns regarding the safety of your vehicle, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.