The Garage equipment association are 100% against the governments recent proposal to extend the MOT testing period to 24 months after the first MOT, as this could increase the potential of serious accidents on the roads and increased breakdown of vehicles which could cause traffic delays and further congestion on the already busy road network. We have seen statically when the government extended the MOT period to help with controlling the spread of the corona virus that in 2020 that the number of reported faults increased when vehicles were presented for the MOT.

An MOT is a safety check / inspection to ensure a vehicle is roadworthy we do not believe that in trying to save the average household £55 per year by not having a safety check is a logical or sensible approach by the government as the potential increase in NHS workloads, cost and traffic delays caused by accidents and breakdowns will simply out way any savings. Currently the UK have over 23000 MOT stations, reducing the MOT period by 50% will also put these businesses and the employee’s livelihoods at risk without the knock-on effect to all the supporting businesses supplying parts and servicing of vehicles.

This being said our main concern over this proposed change is for the safety of the public, the majority of issues pickup on during an MOT are items such worn / damaged tyres, lights not working, window wipers not working braking issues etc this does not only put the vehicle driver at risk of injury but also other road user and public in general.  We need the government to monitor and maintain the current MOT scheme and supported by the police to ensure vehicles without an MOT are taken of the road ASAP.