Dangerous vehicles on the rise
DVSA says one in 10 MoTs pick up dangerous faults
ALMOST three million vehicles failed their MoTs over a 12-month period as a result of ‘Dangerous’ defects, with the updated MoT test revealing the extent of how badly maintained nearly 10 per cent of the cars submitted for test are.
The MoT test underwent one of the most significant shake-ups in its 59-year history in May 2018, when new defect categories (Minor, Major and Dangerous) and fresh checks were brought in.
Official data from the 12 months since those changes were introduced has revealed that 2,952,487 of the 31,285,618 vehicles submitted for an MoT failed due to defects that were classified as Dangerous. That means 9.4 per cent of vehicles tested posed “a direct and immediate risk to road safety” or could have “a serious impact on the environment.”
The vast majority (29,537,183) of the vehicles tested were cars, with 2,769,081 (9.37 per cent) failing due to a Dangerous defect. Such faults include missing brake pads, twisted steering shafts and exhausts that are “likely to become detached.”
Officials from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), which is responsible for administering the MoT, say the number of vehicles on our roads with dangerous faults is likely to be even higher.
Neil Barlow, the DVSA’s head of vehicle engineering explained: “With a quarter of cars turning up late for MoT every year, that means there are lots of potentially dangerous vehicles in need of inspection.
“We urge people to sign up to our free reminder service so they get their MoT done on time, helping keep Britain’s roads safe.”
The overall MoT failure rate for cars submitted for testing in the 12 months since May 2018 was 33.3 per cent, a far higher rate than the 17 per cent of failing motorbikes, and 29.7 per cent of minibuses. Worryingly, though, 40.9 per cent of goods vehicles with a weight of between two and 37 tonnes failed their test, with over 13 per cent doing so because of a Dangerous fault. The most common cause of an MoT failure in the 12 months from May 2018 was problems with suspension components (these caused 18.3 per cent of failures), followed by issues with lights and electrical equipment (14.9 per cent), and faulty brakes (8.8 per cent).