It has been reported tonight that one of the topics up for government discussion at the moment is the possible extension of the need for an MoT from every year to every 2 years. I have all fingers and toes crossed for my ancient jalopy!
TTT, the kids with black box technology in their cars wouldn't tamper with them, as it would nullify their insurance.
No such worry for people trying to avoid road pricing. There would be a whole industry selling methods to cloak the signal or disable them.
It would all be set up and protected by law as with all the motoring laws now. Get caught get fined, simples. The box would be tested as part of the MOT. Anyone one caught without one would be fined, as with all the other offences today. Thousands of motoring laws are flouted everyday this would be another, they get prosecuted when caught.
Over 2 years since my last MOT and still several months till I can get one.
The police will still pull you over if they feel your car is not road worthy
There was an interesting point made by the AA man today. One of the most common MOT failures is for tail light bulbs. That's a £100 fine on the road. It may actually cost more in the end.
I agree with the comments about the MoT being about safety, but cars can fail for ridiculous things like 'the windscreen washers not providing enough liquid to clear the windscreen'. The MoT is a huge worry for those like me who have an old car which they cannot afford to replace. I live in a village and would be sunk without it.
"ridiculous things like 'the windscreen washers not providing enough liquid to clear the windscreen'." - that's a valid safety concern GG, if your screen gets covered in she ite and the washers/wipers can't clear it then that's an issue, especially at night. Far from "ridiculous". There is nothing in the MOT that cannot be related to a safety issue, even if it's not immediately obvious, eg the steering lock issue above.
Quite amazing the number of people that are happy to compromise safety to save a few quid.
I agree entirely with TTT, the underlying problem is people having cars when they cant afford them. This cannot go on, the public infrastructure needs fully updating and the use of cars driven down.
And anyone who thinks having an electric cars will mean they wont pay any sort of 'road tax' is delusional.
Unfortunately society has evolved to make cars necessary for many people. In my day all my teachers lived within a few miles of school, as did most men; women didn't go out to work but ran the home. We have now evolved to a society where husband and wife work in different directions and too far away from home for public transport to be a viable option for many. Reversing this process will not be simple.
What with pursuing 'hate- crimes', & checking people's windscreen-washers, the British cops really have their work cut out. Is asking them to catch serious criminals as well, demanding too much of them?