The Government has stressed the importance of keeping vehicles in a roadworthy condition, after granting owners a six-month exemption from MOT testing.
The temporary exemption, which comes into effect from 30 March, is designed to ‘enable frontline workers to get to work’ and ‘vital services to continue’ during the coronavirus outbreak.
It applies to cars, vans and motorcycles.
The DfT stresses that despite the exemption, vehicles must be kept in a roadworthy condition – and garages will remain open for essential repair work.
It warns that drivers can still be prosecuted if found to be driving unsafe vehicles.
Grant Shapps, transport secretary, said: “We must ensure those on the frontline of helping the nation combat COVID-19 are able to do so.
“Allowing this temporary exemption from vehicle testing will enable vital services such as deliveries to continue, frontline workers to get to work, and people to get essential food and medicine.
“Safety is key, which is why garages will remain open for essential repair work.”
This sounds like a good idea in principle but it relies on people to notice and take action on car defects. Judging from the number of car MOT failures with serious safety issues in recent years, i suspect that it is likely that the net result will unfortunately be more dodgy cars running around for longer as a result.
Apart from that, many local garages rely on a steady flow of repair work, MOT or otherwise and so may well find business is quickly drying up from now on. Essential or not, many small independent garages may not survive the economic fall-out to be available to provide that essential service.
Pat, Wales
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