Annual MOTs could be axed

Unravel_Morrison said:
Bottom line is; does this change make the roads more safe or potentially less safe? Some of those reasons above could be partly down to car maintenance. Could those losses of control and slippery roads be partly down to tyres being balder than they otherwise would've been or suspension/chassis underperformance?
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Well why not do 6 monthly checks if it's to save lives? Why not insist on a check before the sale of any non-new car? Why not cut down speed limits by 10-20mph and have 15mph zones for all streets with houses? Why not insist classic cars go through MOT? Why not have zero tolerance for any alcohol in the bloodstream whatsoever? There are a lot of things that can be done to improve road safety and if safety is the only concern there is no reason for not doing any of the above, but it has to be a balance on financial burden, cost to administer, impact on drivers etc and most European counterparts with better or equal safety records manage it on 2 years, why can't we?
 
ThatFragranceGuy said:
Well why not do 6 monthly checks if it's to save lives? Why not insist on a check before the sale of any non-new car? Why not cut down speed limits by 10-20mph and have 15mph zones for all streets with houses? Why not insist classic cars go through MOT? Why not have zero tolerance for any alcohol in the bloodstream whatsoever? There are a lot of things that can be done to improve road safety and if safety is the only concern there is no reason for not doing any of the above, but it has to be a balance on financial burden, cost to administer, impact on drivers etc and most European counterparts with better or equal safety records manage it on 2 years, why can't we?
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All of those could be good ideas, or not. If they were serious suggestions, then you'd commission research on them, rather than just pick it out of the air for no reason than it sounds like it might be a good idea, which is what they're doing here.

I'm not suggesting that the 2 year idea isn't a good one, but all it is, is exactly that, an idea. They've not said how it would work. The cost of living crisis is now, so would anyone due an MOT soon be allowed another year without one, so suspending most MOT's (apart from the 3 year old ones) for that period? If it's based on your next MOT being valid for 2 years, then any saving would be at least a year away. Do they make the MOT more stringent (Are the tests you've highlighted above in other countries stricter?) to allow 2 years wear and tear? That might put immediate costs up for people getting their car tested?
 
The cost of an MOT is pretty small compared to the total cost of running a car. Halving it over a two year period is trivial so mooting it as a solution to the cost of living crisis is actually a pretty good demonstration of the level of empathy that the Tories have for us. Also how does it help the poorest, a single mother or father struggling to feed their kids on benefits at all?

The overall affect on road deaths is likely to be marginal but it isn't going to improve it. If you want to be logical about it, base the examination on mileage rather than age. A check every 15k miles perhaps? That might improve road safety and reflect a benefit for those who use the roads less.
 
Muttley said:
The cost of an MOT is pretty small compared to the total cost of running a car. Halving it over a two year period is trivial so mooting it as a solution to the cost of living crisis is actually a pretty good demonstration of the level of empathy that the Tories have for us. Also how does it help the poorest, a single mother or father struggling to feed their kids on benefits at all?

The overall affect on road deaths is likely to be marginal but it isn't going to improve it. If you want to be logical about it, base the examination on mileage rather than age. A check every 15k miles perhaps? That might improve road safety and reflect a benefit for those who use the roads less.
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Only issue with a mileage based approach, which makes sense in principal, is that it would be harder to enforce/regulate
 
Unravel_Morrison said:
All of those could be good ideas, or not. If they were serious suggestions, then you'd commission research on them, rather than just pick it out of the air for no reason than it sounds like it might be a good idea, which is what they're doing here.

I'm not suggesting that the 2 year idea isn't a good one, but all it is, is exactly that, an idea. They've not said how it would work. The cost of living crisis is now, so would anyone due an MOT soon be allowed another year without one, so suspending most MOT's (apart from the 3 year old ones) for that period? If it's based on your next MOT being valid for 2 years, then any saving would be at least a year away. Do they make the MOT more stringent (Are the tests you've highlighted above in other countries stricter?) to allow 2 years wear and tear? That might put immediate costs up for people getting their car tested?
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I don't think this cost of living crisis is going anywhere for the next 2-3 year minimum. The usual solution is increasing interest rates which inflicts more misery on those with mortgages.

Haulage costs and energy prices probably not going to vanish



I appreciate it's an idea and analysis would be needed, but I didn't say it wasn't needed, and we have plenty of areas we can look at for sample data in smaller sets that could be comparable to Uk roads
 
ThatFragranceGuy said:
I don't think this cost of living crisis is going anywhere for the next 2-3 year minimum. The usual solution is increasing interest rates which inflicts more misery on those with mortgages.

Haulage costs and energy prices probably not going to vanish



I appreciate it's an idea and analysis would be needed, but I didn't say it wasn't needed, and we have plenty of areas we can look at for sample data in smaller sets that could be comparable to Uk roads
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And that's the point I'm making here; they haven't done any of this work, they're just plucking ideas out of the air, because the committee that they set up to look at the crisis haven't met for 6 months.

It's the same with the childcare proposal; they've done no research on it; it's just making suggestions for the sake of appearances that they're doing something.
 
Unravel_Morrison said:
And that's the point I'm making here; they haven't done any of this work, they're just plucking ideas out of the air, because the committee that they set up to look at the crisis haven't met for 6 months.

It's the same with the childcare proposal; they've done no research on it; it's just making suggestions for the sake of appearances that they're doing something.
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We have no idea what research they have done or would do before bringing in such a decision. They've done consultations in changes like this before, e.g with the proposal to change from 3 to 4 years. It's literally an idea.
Unravel_Morrison said:
Around 40% fail the first one.
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That doesn't sound correct, in Northern Ireland it's 7% and can't see us being 33% more than NI. What is the source for that?

3D2E1D2F-78A2-4829-8FD0-E942887B1988.jpeg

myessentialfleet.co.uk

DVSA data reveals 13% of three-year-old cars failed their first legally required safety check last year, the equivalent of over 280,000 cars in 2021

An estimated 580,0001 cars on the road aged three years or less would likely fail an MOT test due to potentially dangerous faults, according to
myessentialfleet.co.uk myessentialfleet.co.uk

This suggests 16 year old cars end up at 47%, 20 year old 44% and cites 13% of cars taking their first test.
 
Penny-wise and poundfoolish as per usual.

Save just under £30 a year... But don't mind us pinching £30 per month more from your pay packet. Pow: quick maths!
 
ThatFragranceGuy said:
We have no idea what research they have done or would do before bringing in such a decision. They've done consultations in changes like this before, e.g with the proposal to change from 3 to 4 years. It's literally an idea.


That doesn't sound correct, in Northern Ireland it's 7% and can't see us being 33% more than NI. What is the source for that?

View attachment 37885

myessentialfleet.co.uk

DVSA data reveals 13% of three-year-old cars failed their first legally required safety check last year, the equivalent of over 280,000 cars in 2021

An estimated 580,0001 cars on the road aged three years or less would likely fail an MOT test due to potentially dangerous faults, according to
myessentialfleet.co.uk myessentialfleet.co.uk

This suggests 16 year old cars end up at 47%, 20 year old 44% and cites 13% of cars taking their first test.
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Sorry I'd misread the blurb. It said that was the percentage that failed their first MOT, but it meant the first MOT attempt of any MOT. Apologies.
 
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