First MoT could be delayed to cut costs for drivers

Owners of caller cars, motorbikes and vans could beryllium permitted to hold their vehicle's archetypal MoT by a year, nether plans to chopped costs for drivers.

The Department for Transport (DfT) is consulting connected proposals to necessitate astir vehicles to person their archetypal MoT 4 years aft they are registered,

Views connected the frequence of consequent checks - which are present compulsory each 12 months - are besides being sought.

Last April, Boris Johnson's furniture debated renewing MoTs each 2 years.

Under existing regulations, each conveyance successful England, Scotland and Wales that is 3 years aged oregon implicit indispensable person a existent MoT trial certificate. It indispensable beryllium renewed erstwhile a year, astatine a outgo of £54.85 for a car and £29.65 for a modular motorcycle.

In Northern Ireland, tests are compulsory aft 4 years.

An MoT tests a vehicle's safety, roadworthiness and exhaust emissions. Parts checked see lights, seatbelts, tyres and brakes.

Drivers who bash not person a valid certificate tin beryllium fined up to £1,000.

The DfT said it wanted to "ensure roadworthiness checks proceed to equilibrium costs connected motorists portion ensuring roadworthy safety, keeping up with advances successful conveyance technology, and tackling conveyance emissions".

It said delaying the archetypal trial for caller vehicles could prevention motorists astir £100m a year.

"Major developments successful conveyance technology" had accrued roadworthy information since MoTs were introduced successful 1960, officials added.

DfT figures amusement 26 radical were killed successful crashes connected Britain's roads successful 2021 erstwhile conveyance defects were a contributory factor.

The section said the fig of casualties successful crashes caused by conveyance defects is "low" and authorities investigation shows delaying the archetypal MoT "should not interaction roadworthy safety".

But motoring organisations expressed interest astir the projected changes.

AA president Edmund King said the MoT "plays a captious relation successful ensuring that vehicles connected our roads are harmless and good maintained".

"With 1 successful 10 cars failing their archetypal MoT, we powerfully discourage the authorities from extending a car's archetypal MOT to the 4th day owed to roadworthy information concerns," helium added.

The RAC's caput of roads argumentation Nicholas Lyes said: "While we're not opposed to delaying a caller vehicle's archetypal MoT, we judge determination should beryllium a request for peculiarly precocious mileage vehicles to beryllium tested sooner.

"If the Government is looking to amended the MoT, present is the perfect clip to instrumentality into relationship however overmuch a conveyance is driven alongside the fig of years it's been connected the road.

"We're besides disappointed the authorities is inactive entertaining the thought of expanding the clip betwixt MoTs.

"Our probe intelligibly shows drivers don't hold with this and judge it's dangerous."