The UK Government has suggested relaxing the frequency of MOTs to every two years, rather than one, in order to cut costs for households.<\/p>\n
A number of motor industry bodies have now urged its Government to reconsider this proposal.<\/p>\n
The Independent Garage Association (IGA) warned that a biennial MOT is a “dangerous plan” that would increase costs for motorists long-term.<\/p>\n
Its chief executive Stuart James said: \u201cIn our opinion this whole plan is dangerous, unwanted and unreasonable. This proposal has been scrutinised at least four times that I have known of in the last 15 years, and every time it has been deemed detrimental to road safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a fact that in times of economic hardship, motorists cut back on servicing their cars and it is the annual MOT that has kept the UK\u2019s road safety at high levels thanks to the vital safety checks it carries out. Saving the cost of an MOT biannually is not worth the price of national road safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis proposal will also fail to save motorists any money long-term as defects will go unnoticed for longer, which at best will cause more damage to vehicles and increase repair costs, and at worst cause unnecessary breakdowns and accidents.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA), which represents franchised vehicle dealers in the UK, said the proposal is “ill-thought-out and unsafe”.<\/p>\n
Sue Robinson, NFDA chief executive said the suggested move “fails to take into account the investments franchised dealers have made in their equipment, workforce and facilities to provide drivers with an efficient and good value service”.<\/p>\n
She added that the Government should review current road tax rates, stating this “will bring immediate benefits to millions of motorists without hindering road safety”.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, BookMyGarage.com claims that a move to biennial MOTs would result in over 2.5 million vehicles on the UK’s roads with dangerous defects.<\/p>\n
It said that last year, around 10 million out of the more than 30 million Class 3 & 4 MOTs conducted in the UK, failed their MOT first time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe counterproductive measure will see motorists paying more for their car maintenance and increase danger on the roads,\u201d said Karen Rotberg, co-founder of BookMyGarage.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The UK Government has suggested relaxing the frequency of MOTs to every two years, rather than one, in order to cut costs for households.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":27342,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n