EU wants to ‘split’ MOTs and repairs…
UK motorists would be massively inconvenienced by the EU’s latest MOT proposals
- Many EU member states recently rejected a raft of ‘new MOT road safety measures’ from the EU which would have entailed increased costs to both the respective states and to motorists in those states.
- The measures were rejected both on the grounds of cost and on the technical issue of the EU’s right to impose a ‘Regulation’ of this kind on member states.
- The European Parliament has responded by suggesting, among other things, that MOT Testing Stations should not be allowed to carry out repairs to vehicles which they had been or would be involved in Testing.
- This measure would result in inconvenience and expense for the car driver at the very least, with the likelihood of large conglomerates establishing massive Testing-only centres outside towns and cities.
Last summer, the European Commission proposed a number of significant changes to the European MOT Test, with which the British Government would have to comply, which would not only have significantly inconvenienced motorists, but would also have cost the country almost two billion pounds in unnecessary costs.
The majority of those proposals were rejected by member states of the European Union, so the Commission had to put forward a much watered-down version for scrutiny by the European Parliament. The Parliament, however, decided to recommend some further changes of their own, the most significant of which was to propose that in future MOT Testing Stations would not be able to carry out MOT repairs; and Testers would not be able to repair a vehicle for which they were going to do the re-Test.
Extra time, inconvenience and cost
In Britain this would seriously inconvenience motorists, by forcing them to make three different journeys should their cars fail the MOT. The first journey to a ‘stand alone’ MOT Testing Station which would not be allowed to carry out repairs. Then another journey to a vehicle service and repair business to get the work done, and finally, a trip back to the Testing Station for a re-test, and probably another full fee to pay.
This is in contrast to the current system whereby if a car fails the MOT, and the garage can repair it straight away, then assuming it is convenient for the car owner, that is what happens. This is especially convenient when the failure is very simple, a small bulb, or a wiper blade perhaps.
Clearly the changes suggested by the European Parliament would not only cost motorists more, but would be hugely inconvenient too – especially for working mothers, for example, who simply haven’t got the time to plan for three different trips around the school run and all the other things they have to do to get their cars MOT Tested and repaired at different places.