Posted on: October 13, 2019 Posted by: Cameron Comments: 0

The MOT is a mandatory test handled for all vehicles above three years in the UK. The test reviews whether a car is roadworthy, safe and non-polluting, making sure their emissions are within the required standards. Being annual, year after year vehicle owners take their cars to mechanics who evaluate them according to an existing system. More than 20000 garages around Great Britain have employed 53000 certified mechanics to review vehicles and provide certificates marking them MOT certified.

What are the main tests and checks handled for the MOT?

The MOT is a thorough test that makes sure vehicles are safe on the road, and not in a condition where they could cause accidents that could be fatal to the driver or others in the car. Keeping in line with vehicle pollution norms, they check the engine, coolant, and exhaust making sure they are all within the standard. Next, they make sure all the lights within and outside the vehicle are working properly. This means checking all the lights on the outside of the car, from the brakes to the headlights and the dashboard lights to make sure they aren’t indicating an issue.

Other checks include windscreen fluid to make sure the driver can see the road. There are minor checks like making sure the windows do not have any tint, and if they do that they match requirements. They double-check licence plates so that they match the norms. The font size and type have to match the requirements of the department otherwise the car wouldn’t be allowed to ply.

Why do the tests have to be upgraded?

In a recent post-Brexit report, the MOT tests being mandatory received a lot of heat. Multiple agencies began conversations about scrapping the test altogether while  providing  reasons backing up their train of thought. Although the spokesperson in favour of the MOT responded to  all of them, he did make a couple of points about the tests. The most significant was that the tests have to be updated to keep with the times.

The reason he made this statement was simply that the MOT is an old test carried out across multiple decades, from a time when vehicles weren’t built the way they are today. It made sure the vehicles on the roads then were safe. Vehicle manufacture today have taken a completely different approach with a lot of safety features in the vehicles so not only the people in the car  are fine, but the people around them as well. There are airbags, emergency braking, indicators and sensors while reversing or turning and so much more so people are safe. Additionally, the   test covers the basics of the vehicle and not the details of the new features like the electronic   and technological components that they have. Statistically, there has been a decrease in the number of vehicles meeting with accidents caused by malfunctions and this could be because of two reasons, the cars being built differently or the MOT tests making sure they are tested frequently.

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