Biennial MOT testing ‘not the correct solution’ – NFDA NI

NFDA Northern Ireland has responded to Northern Ireland’s Department for Infrastructure’s consultation on proposals to carry out MOT tests every two years. Sue Robinson, NFDA NI chief executive said that moving to biennial testing “is not the correct solution to the issues currently facing the NI Testing Scheme.” She said that the solution to current capacity issues should not come “at the expense of road safety.” The proposals were put forward earlier this year with the region’s MOT testing capacity struggling to keep pace with demand.

The Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) claims that the UK government’s recent announcement of a ban on the sale of new diesel and petrol vehicles by 2030 combined with biennial testing, if introduced, would help to address testing capacity issues. The change would remove approximately 240,000 (24 per cent) of cars and light goods vehicles from the vehicle testing regime in Northern Ireland each year, out of a current annual total of around 1,000,000.

Robinson said: “It very much appears that this Call for Evidence has been proposed due to the Covid testing backlog and the existing capacity in the system being unable to cope.

“NFDA NI believes the importance of road safety should be the primary concern and other avenues should be sought to ensure that testing can be carried out effectively whilst maintaining the current testing periodicity. A capacity issue should not be remedied at the expense of road safety.

“The move to biennial testing will undoubtedly increase defects in vehicles, cause harm to established motor repairers and local communities. We would urge NI Government to seriously rethink these proposals and take our concerns into account.”