Has the DfT Got an MOT Screw Loose?

MOT tests need tightening up not dumbing down, if the views of respondents to Tyres & Accessories’ August poll are anything to go by. Last month visitors to T&A’s tyrepress.com website were asked if tyre age should be inspected as part of MOT tests. A whopping 89 per cent of respondents said yes.

We asked the question following last month’s editorial on tyre age, which was triggered by the news that Gloucestershire coroner Alan Crickmore wrote to the DfT recommending more attention be paid to tyre age during MOTs (see Tyres & Accessories August 2010, page 3) and in light of the government’s suggestions that MOT intervals should be increased to two years rather than the current annual requirement. However, our poll results would seem to suggest there isn’t much support for either government moves to spread out the time between MOT tests or its reticence to include tyre age in the MOT requirements.

And while we are the first to admit that our polls are not quite scientific, the findings are backed up by the combined support of pretty much every relevant industry body going who collectively report that tinkering with the MOT regime is dangerous and is not even cost effective.

There are two key issues VOSA and the DfT have to consider here. Firstly MOT testing frequency in general and more specifically how and when tyre age should be included in the MOT test, with some degree of crossover between the two. Two years after the government last mooted the concept of bringing the UK’s annual MOT frequency in line with the biannual approach, the pressure to make instant cost efficiencies in light of the recent recession appears to have pushed Under Secretary of State for Transport, Mike Penning MP, to re-consider this approach. The problem is that in 2008 the DfT itself rejected this exact suggestion after a comprehensive review – something that was not lost on the NTDA.

In response to the DfT’s moves to reconsider MOT frequency, NTDA national chair David White wrote to Mike Penning on 27 July pointing out that the DfT’s last analysis of the subject – apparently “the most comprehensive on the subject ever undertaken” – found that moving to 4–2–2 would “risk an additional annual 400 road deaths per year” and a further “2,500 serious injuries.” Furthermore, far from saving money, putting two years between tests is expected to cost society another £1.4 billion in terms of death, injuries and unemployment.

The DfT’s mailbag got fatter still when the Tyre Industry Federation (TIF) also put pen to paper. Then Roadsafe called on government to abandon any plans to change MOT frequency pointing out that the MOT failure rate rose from 35 per cent to 37 between 2008/09 and 2009/10 and appears to be on an upward trend. Surely spreading out vehicle testing periods would only increase the chances of secondary maintenance problems and make cars more dangerous still, the road safety body argued.

But shouldn’t we be aiming to make our roads safer rather than hedging our bets for the sake of false economy? Rather than making testing less stringent why not include tyre age in the test and avoid the deaths that are caused by tyres simply being too old to function properly? In both cases (MOT frequency and tyre age) the government is of the opinion that everyone will go around checking their own tread depths, pressures, age and general condition on a regular basis.

You think I am joking? Tyres & Accessories has obtained the DfT’s reply to the letter that Her Majesty’s Coroner for Gloucestershire sent to Secretary of State for Transport, Phil Hammond MP asking about including tyre age in the MOT. The reply came from one Mike Penning MP. And I quote: “A code indicating the [tyre’s] manufacture date has been moulded into the sidewall since the 1990’s…It is widely recommended that tyres should be inspected and the pressures checked routinely. Page 129 of the Highway Code is one of many sources of advice on this point. Drivers should not just rely on the vehicle’s annual MOT inspection to check the condition of their tyres.”

The problem is, despite the industry’s best efforts, we all know this doesn’t happen.

Related News:

• Roadsafe: MOT Must Stay Annual

• RMI Call For Participation in Online EU MOT Survey

• MOT Rule Change Could Risk Lives

• Should VOSA Call Time on Old Tyres?