DVSA clarifies MOT rules

Last month we published a news item about MOT failure trends. The article, “DVSA, DfT Data reveals Britain’s MOT failure hotspots and top 10 reasons why” shared DVSA and DfT in order to highlight MOT failure hotspots.

The article, which was contributed by CarTakeBack, cited Rebecca Currier, marketing manager at CarTakeBack, who said: “CarTakeBack branches across the UK regularly see cars sold to them that have failed an MOT. Minor fails can often be easily repaired, relatively cheaply. However, when a car fails and it’s likely to cost more than a car is worth to get it to pass an MOT test, those cars often end up being recycled. With a change in the law recently, cars that fail can’t be driven off the MOT centre site, in these instances it’s vital that the cars are collected from the MOT centre for the customer.”

However, a DVSA spokesperson recently got in touch in order to clarify that the law didn’t change and motorists can drive failed vehicles away from test centres:

“The law didn’t change and there is no prohibition on driving vehicles that have failed an MOT away from a test centre, provided either their previous MOT has not expired or it’s being taken for repair. But, the introduction of defect categories to the MOT in May 2018 have made it easier for drivers to see if their vehicle is dangerous. It has always been illegal to use a dangerous vehicle on the road. Clearly, if it fails the MOT with a “dangerous” defect the driver can see it is not safe to drive and they should make arrangements either for repair on site or to have it transported away professionally.”