Early MOT???

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Nige4927 said:
Wow, OK, don't see the need for such a response.. I won't come "snivelling" back as you put it.. My OP was just curious if others MOT early, I haven't stated I'm an authority on the subject and have merely posted links to the DVLA website.. I haven't advocated driving a car in a dangerous condition and have stated several time that this could be useful for failures that are NOT safety related..

Nige
Click to expand...

You have ignored the advice of at least one current MOT tester, and other people who have been operating vehicles since before you were born.
And keep on arguing the toss, and posting links to the DVLA site. Guidelines from DVLA are not always the way either MOT testers, or the police, interpret the situation on the ground.

In addition, this is Anything Goes, and I can say what I like, within certain fairly loose guidelines.
If you expect polite discussion, try posting your issue on the open forum.
 
Nige4927 said:
Not according to the DVLA it isn't... on their website.. and countless others now.. see the links already posted... seems to be a myth thats been seen as fact

Nige
Click to expand...

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/mot-changes-20-may-2018

According to the DVLA, the only time you are allowed to drive your car after it has failed a test is on the way to have failed defects fixed, or on the way to a pre-booked MOT appointment...

Many drivers will not be aware a refused MOT will be recorded on the national database potentially alerting your vehicle to the traffic police and it being potentially unfit to drive...
 
Turboman said:
You have ignored the advice of at least one current MOT tester, and other people who have been operating vehicles since before you were born.
And keep on arguing the toss, and posting links to the DVLA site. Guidelines from DVLA are not always the way either MOT testers, or the police, interpret the situation on the ground.

In addition, this is Anything Goes, and I can say what I like, within certain fairly loose guidelines.
If you expect polite discussion, try posting your issue on the open forum.
Click to expand...

Yer just grumpy cuz yer stuck inna ditch puddle cuz it drizzled overnight :p:p
 
Turboman said:
You have ignored the advice of at least one current MOT tester, and other people who have been operating vehicles since before you were born.
And keep on arguing the toss, and posting links to the DVLA site. Guidelines from DVLA are not always the way either MOT testers, or the police, interpret the situation on the ground.

In addition, this is Anything Goes, and I can say what I like, within certain fairly loose guidelines.
If you expect polite discussion, try posting your issue on the open forum.
Click to expand...

I haven't ignored anyone's advice.. this is about can you drive on current MOT certificate following an Early MOT failure, the answer is yes.. But Again I am not advocating driving a car in a dangerous condition.. and there are many situations that this could be done perfectly legally and safely.. for example you take you car for MOT 30 days early.. it fails for tire under legal tread depth and a brake disc badly worn.. so you drive it to a garage have a new tire and disc fitted, but you don't have time to get it re-tested because you're off on a camping holiday for 2 weeks... so you drive the car on the current MOT that still has 30 days left and retest when you return... its not dangerous because the 2 defects have been delt with..

Non of my posts warrant such a rude response which I suspect is because you stated "an early mot failure invalidates your current MOT" and I pointed out that you were wrong.. I wasn't rude just stated the facts and included a screen shot from the DVLA website..

Nige
 
I wouldn't want to drive a vehicle with ANY major faults anyway.
But the Governments own web-site offering advice to motoring members of the public says:
"If" (<- Lovely conditional expression... The following [list of cases] is true...) Then ...[What you are allowed to do].
The cases are very simple....
1. Your current MOT is still valid (i.e. has not yet expired) <- This means your existing MOT is not Cancelled....as long as the next case statement also true.
2. The fault(s) found on the latest test are not in the MAJOR category.

The what you are allowed to do part is ONLY "Drive it AWAY" ...... presumably to get the minor faults fixed.
So, if you were stopped by the police and spot-checked on the way home, I think your lawyer would drive a coach & horses through any case the police brought against you.

If however, the latest MOT pops us a MAJOR fail then nope, no driving it anywhere and you run the risk of harsh treatment from the authorities.

That's how I interpret it at least. Happy to be corrected, but, I shall ask my BIL the MOT tester what their guidance is.
 
blue beasty said:
Yer just grumpy cuz yer stuck inna ditch puddle cuz it drizzled overnight :p:p
Click to expand...

Quite right. :)

It didn't actually rain at all here, it rained up Northampton, and the big girls at EA decided to shut the river.
Looking out the porthole, there is absolutely nothing I couldn't deal with, I have been out on the Severn in flood, with big trees coming down the other way. And the Severn is a proper rivvah, not a trickle like the bloody Nene.

Going to make up for it with an 18 hour day of hard charging tomorrow. EA can stick it where the sun don't shine! :D
 
Isn't the law a funny subject..

I think we have established that a failure does not invalidate your current MOT therefore you cannot be prosecuted for driving without an MOT..

The next offence is driving a vehicle in a dangerous condition.. if you have fixed the reasons for failure then your not driving a vehicle in a dangerous condition.. the fact you haven't had it retested is immaterial as far as the law is concerned because the offence is only concerned with the facts of the case I.e is the vehicle in a dangerous condition and is it being driven on a road.. the MOT failure is immaterial.

The final offences to consider are construction and use laws of the road traffic act.. for example rear brake light out. Minor offence but you would be knowingly committing the offence and likely to get fined if PNC is updated with failed early MOT information (I don't know if it is or not )

Here is the potential grey area.. let' say the failure is due to a rear seatbelt that fails to latch.. your driving on your own with no one in the rear seats.. this is not a construction and use offence.. the car is not being driven in an unsafe condition.. but is it road worthy? in my opinion and maybe now would be a good time to mention I was a cop for 15 years.. left 2 years ago.. in my opinion if you were pulled because ANPR flagged an MOT failure and the cop could see you have a current MOT and the failure was due to seatbelt and you had no passengers not only would they not prosecute but I can't think of any offence your are committing..

With all due respect to MOT testers their expertise is in the test itself not in the pursuance of the law or prosecutions..

VOSA would be a good place to clarify these points. Might pull in and have a chat next time I see one of their spot check operations that I see on way to work quite often.
 
Turboman said:
Quite right. :)

It didn't actually rain at all here, it rained up Northampton, and the big girls at EA decided to shut the river.
Looking out the porthole, there is absolutely nothing I couldn't deal with, I have been out on the Severn in flood, with big trees coming down the other way. And the Severn is a proper rivvah, not a trickle like the bloody Nene.

Going to make up for it with an 18 hour day of hard charging tomorrow. EA can stick it where the sun don't shine! :D
Click to expand...

I'll bet the sun shines on you tho ... :D
 
Nige4927 said:
Isn't the law a funny subject..

I think we have established that a failure does not invalidate your current MOT therefore you cannot be prosecuted for driving without an MOT..

With all due respect to MOT testers their expertise is in the test itself not in the pursuance of the law or prosecutions..

VOSA would be a good place to clarify these points. Might pull in and have a chat next time I see one of their spot check operations that I see on way to work quite often.
Click to expand...

But the MOT is only concerned with the state of the vehicle on the date of the inspection ... not what you have done afterwards ... you may have 'tampered' with the vehicle and being an unqualified person may not know what you have done wrong ... it does happen ...
 
From what I can understand about the original post by @Nige4927 he wants to put his vehicle in early to see what needs doing for a proper MoT test.

I don't see a problem here, many garages particularly indie ones often run a scheme of "pre-MoT checks". The cost is often about the same as a failed test, but since it isn't a documented VOSA test then the existing MoT certificate will still be in force, and you'll get a good idea about what needs to be done.

Those jobs can then be attended to prior to presenting the vehicle for the next test.

Of course, if the garage says to you, "WTF are you doing driving a dangerous box of rot like this" then you do have a problem since you have been made aware that the vehicle is of such a dangerous state that it shouldn't be on the road.
 
The way I understand it all is as follows:
  • It is illegal to drive a vehicle in a dangerous condition. This applies regardless of MOT state.
  • MOT faults are now in three categories - Minor, Major, and Dangerous
  • If you get a "Dangerous" fault, the vehicle is in a dangerous condition, and is therefore illegal to drive.
  • If you get a "Major" fault, you can still drive it home, or to/from a place of repair or MOT, but should not drive it otherwise.
  • Minor faults are effectively more formalised advisories, and don't affect the legality of the vehicle, but should still be fixed as soon as possible.
  • Advisories are still issued, and work exactly the same as before - they advise you of something that may result in a failure in future, or is a fault which is not tested.
 
nickclarke said:
The way I understand it all is as follows:
  • It is illegal to drive a vehicle in a dangerous condition. This applies regardless of MOT state.
  • MOT faults are now in three categories - Minor, Major, and Dangerous
  • If you get a "Dangerous" fault, the vehicle is in a dangerous condition, and is therefore illegal to drive.
  • If you get a "Major" fault, you can still drive it home, or to/from a place of repair or MOT, but should not drive it otherwise.
  • Minor faults are effectively more formalised advisories, and don't affect the legality of the vehicle, but should still be fixed as soon as possible.
  • Advisories are still issued, and work exactly the same as before - they advise you of something that may result in a failure in future, or is a fault which is not tested.
Click to expand...

At last a sensible and IMHO a definitive answer, not rocket science.
 
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