DfT: NO ACTION ON DROP IN CLASSIC MoTs
Department for Transport has ‘no concerns’ about MoT exemptions a year on
Clubs and enthusiasts have voiced concerns over the steadily increasing number of MoT-exempt classics on our roads – even though the Department for Transport (DfT) said it had no plans to change the system introduced on 20 May 2018. Classic Car Weekly found that the number of classic MoTs dropped by half in the first month of MoT exemptions coming into force ( CCW, 22 Aug, 2018).
Figures published by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency
(DVSA) showed that 12,365 classics were declared as Vehicles of Historic Interest ( VHI) on 1-30 June 2018 and thus exempt from roadworthiness testing. In the same time period the previous year, 25,369 classics received an MoT.
Car SOS co-presenter and CCW contributor, Fuzz Townshend, said at the time that if percentage rates of 40-year-old classics undergoing
MoT testing fell to to 30 per cent of the 2017 figure – the last time MoT tests were mandatory for tax-exempt historics – he would donate £100 to charity. Fuzz’s money is safe for now – DVSA statistics obtained by CCW under a Freedom of Information Act Request show that 49.8 per cent of enthusiasts are choosing to MoT-exempt their cars. 55,256 classics received an MoT between 20 May and 20 November 2018; 110,930 cars underwent the same procedure in the same period in 2017.
A spokesperson for the DfT said: ‘ We continue to monitor the impact of changes to testing for Vehicles of Historical Interest, but have no concerns that these will affect roadworthiness. At present, the numbers of vehicles tested do not suggest significant concerns about how the changes have worked.’
Cambridge- Oxford Owners’ Club publicity officer, John Lakey, believes that enthusiasts are being let down. He said: ‘It suggests that either the policy isn’t popular or that there’s a lot of confusion still.
‘I’ve spoken to people who aren’t aware that they need to declare the MoT-exempt vehicle [as a VHI]. Some also don’t think that they can MoT their car anymore.
‘I suspect that the number of people MoT-ing their exempt cars will go down because MoT stations are turning exempt vehicles away and it’s human nature to stop doing something when the legal requirement goes.’
MG Car Club general manager, Adam Sloman, said: ‘I’ve just had my MoT-exempt MGB tested. I’m no mechanic and a second pair of eyes is always a good thing.
‘A lot of people still do it out of habit, I think, but it may go down over time as new people come into the hobby.’
Further guidance on MoT exemption can be found on the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs’ website.