2018-01-24 12:38
The MoT test is due for a shake up this year with the introduction of new defect and failure categories. From May 2018, cars being assessed by MoT testers will have defects categorised as Dangerous, Major and Minor.
Dangerous and Major defects will lead to an automatic MoT failure, but cars will faults judged to be Minor can still pass the test – although the presence of a minor fault will be noted on the MoT certificate. Advisory notices, which also cause a note to be made on a car’s MoT record, will remain alongside the new categories.
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One example of the new criteria, set out in a draft DVSA (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) MoT guide, concerns steering: a steering box leaking oil would get a Minor fault; if the oil is leaking so badly as to be dripping, that would constitute a Major defect, causing the car to fail its MoT.
If the steering wheel itself, meanwhile, was so loose as to be “likely to become detached”, that would constitute a Dangerous failure, and the MoT certificate flag this up to the car’s owner with greater urgency.
Speaking to Auto Express, Neil Barlow, head of MoT policy at the DVSA, the organisation that regulates the MoT test, explained further: “We’re changing the wording on the certificate. We’ve done a lot of research with motorists to find out what sort of information helps”.
Barlow added that more explicit safety warnings would be included on certificates for cars with faults, with the Road Traffic Act and penalties for dangerous vehicles likely to be highlighted.
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This, Barlow explained, should make it more likely people would get faults attended to: “The new categorisation should help motorists to the right thing, IE not drive away from the garage and get the fault fixed. So we’ve put a much more robust set of wording around that”.
Eric Smith, MoT scheme manager at Kwik Fit, which carries out almost a million MoTs a year clarified that this would bring the terminology in line with the working of the Road Traffic Act, “A dangerous item means that vehicle should not be driven away from the garage,” adding: “Driving a vehicle in a dangerous condition is a criminal offence.”
Other changes to the MoT test include the addition of a check for reverse lights, while brake discs will be inspected for to check if they are “significantly or obviously warn”, as well as taking in current checks for oil contamination of the disc, as well as how securely they are attached to the wheel hubs.
Do you think the new MoT failure categories will improve road safety? Join the debate in the comments...
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