Classics Should Be MoT Checked, Says Scrap Car Comparison Site

Here we have another point of view on the tricky subject of rolling MoT exemption for classic cars. Dean Adams from Scrap Car Comparison offers his thoughts;

The Department for Transport has announced plans to extend the current MOT exemption for classic cars to those over 40 years of age as of May 2018. Any vehicle built before 1978 will no longer need an MOT as of next year – and experts believe this could lead to more accidents on the roads.

An estimated 300,000 vehicles could be on the roads from May without an MoT as the government feels it is unnecessary for them to be checked over, and that includes any minimum brake testing.

Despite many well-looked after classics being on the road and lovingly cherished – not all are fully cared for classics. The MoT is a once a year spot check which helps identify safety issues with vehicles. A piece of paper does not make a car roadworthy as during that year a car could have done thousands of miles. It would make more sense if an MOT is based on the mileage of a car over its lifetime.

An everyday car is deemed up to safety standard, or not, on that one day a year. In busy everyday use a car can become ‘unsafe’ very quickly if not regularly checked by the driver, or a vehicle technician. On the other hand classics are lovingly pampered continually, very rarely used as everyday cars and even then generally driven with much more care.

However, we’ve seen some classic cars which have been either poorly maintained or repaired badly. It’s frightening to know that some of these will be on the roads at possible high speeds amongst other road users. The danger now is that a serious accident might be caused by the failure of a formerly tested part on the vehicle, which under old regulations would have been tested for safety. Structural weakness or corrosion could become major factors.

If you hurt someone in an accident and the cause is determined to be the fact that your vehicle was unsafe, you will be prosecuted appropriately. It will still be a legal responsibility on the owner/driver to ensure road worthiness.

The new rule change will leave a headache for insurance assessors as of next year as they try to bridge the black hole the government has created on whether a car is now roadworthy in the event of an accident. Many leading experts believe all vehicles should be tested to a minimum requirement.

Over to you readers – how do you think the UK insurance industry will react to this MoT change? Post a comment below.