The idea of having an MOT every two years to help with the cost of living crisis has been slammed by the majority of motorists.
In a survey conducted by the RAC, 55% of people who responded felt that increasing the time between MOTs was a bad idea. Almost all of these respondents said that it would lead to more unsafe vehicles being on the road. A fifth thought it would result in a greater number of accidents, and 61% believed it would lead to more cars breaking down.
The suggestion of changing the frequency of MOTs was floated by the Government in April of this year.
As for the cost-saving benefits, 58% said that the switch from 1 year to 2 year MOTs would actually end up costing drivers more money. They felt serious issues with vehicles would go undetected and become more costly to repair. Almost half also believed that garages would put prices up to compensate for the loss of income from annual MOTs.
There were around 20% of people who agreed with the suggested change, on the basis that modern cars were more reliable and did not need yearly MOTs.
“Many drivers look at the MOT test as an important tool to see if their vehicle is in a safe and roadworthy condition”, said Nicholas Lyes, head of roads policy at the RAC. “Cost is secondary to road safety. We already know that many vehicles fail their MOT because of illegal tyre tread, so if this figure were to get significantly bigger more lives would be put at risk from vehicles losing grip on the road and not stopping quickly enough when brakes are applied,” said Lyes.
“We know from our breakdown statistics that tyres in poor condition are far more likely to blow out or get punctured. There is a real danger that if the Government proceeds with these proposals that we could see an increase in the number of collisions and more injuries and deaths due to more unroadworthy vehicles using our roads, and an overall reduction in road safety.”
