MoT testing on cars and light commercial vehicles in England, Scotland and Wales is to undergo a major overhaul from May 20.
Impacting on Class 3, 4, 5 and 7 vehicles, the Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has published an updated MoT Inspection Manual that outlines the changes.
Although in draft form – changes may still be made before the final manual is issued in May – the major alteration is that each vehicle defect found will be categorised as either ‘dangerous’, ‘major’ or ‘minor’. Manual advisories will no longer be given.
‘Dangerous’ and ‘major’ defects will cause a vehicle to fail its MoT test and drivers will be advised not to drive the vehicle away in its current condition. However, ‘minor’ defects will be considered as being similar to advisories in the current test. A vehicle will still pass its MoT if it only has ‘minor’ defects.
The changes are part of a European Union directive and, according to the RAC, while they may seem like “a sensible move” confusion could be caused among motorists. A spokesman said: “Rather than MoT failures simply being black and white, the new system creates the potential for confusion as testers will have to make a judgement as to whether faults are ‘dangerous’, ‘major’ or ‘minor’. This will surely be open to interpretation which may lead to greater inconsistency from one test centre to another.”
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