A recent survey shows that a third of UK motorists have driven a car knowing it has no MOT. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) surveyed one thousand motorists and discovered these shocking results.
The findings are even more worrying when you consider, driving without a valid MOT carries a fine of up to £1,000 and renders your insurance invalid.
The two most common reasons for this proved to be that either the driver had forgotten the test date or, probably more commonly, they hadn’t even realised their MOT had expired. How many of you have tried to tax your car only to find the MOT has expired?!
Results showed that men were the greatest offenders and 67% admitted driving for up to a week before the retest, 24% for up to a month, 7% for up to six months and 2% for more than six months.
Regional differences were also in the findings showing that the East Midlands topped the table for remembering to carry out a car’s MOT, with just 15% of motorists in the region saying they have driven a car without a valid MOT and at the opposite end of the table drivers in the South West most likely to drive without an MOT, with 41% admitting to forgetting.
The SMMT has teamed up with Trading Standards-approved garage network, Motor Codes, to offer free MOT service reminders. Check out www.passmymot.co.uk , the service will send all applicants a reminders when their MOT is due to expire.
Mike Baunton, SMMT Interim Chief Executive said “each year, a significant proportion of motorists forget their car’s MOT, risking safety, fines and penalty points, main dealers are the best place to go to be sure of the most highly-trained technicians, using the parts manufacturers recommend along with the best diagnostic equipment. With more than 5,500 dealers across the UK carrying out free pre-MOT checks, along with an MOT reminder service run by Motor Codes, we are helping drivers to avoid basic MOT test fails by spotting simple-to-fix problems before the MOT lapses.”
Set a reminder now or log on to www.passmymot.co.uk and make sure you don’t drive illegally, without an MOT.
