Do you have any shocking MOT Stories?
Do you have any shocking MOT Stories if so DVSA want to hear them ….
Chris Price, head of MOT policy at DVSA, recently posted a blog update wanting to hear about your “shocking MOT stories” – no doubt there are many out there. Go to social.media@dvsa.gov.uk to tell your story.
More importantly, Chris Price outlined further updates and improvements to DVSA safety recall services, how DVSA share data, what they use to improve road safety and the intention to go paperless.
Sharing Data
DVSA’s aim is to make their data as open and as accessible as possible to improve road safety and MOT compliance. One of the key users of their data are the police. In the blog, Chris Price stated, “If the police find a vehicle driving on the road without an MOT, and they aren’t taking their vehicle for an MOT, they will send the motorist a nudge letter reminding them to get their vehicle tested. If this is ignored, they may be stopped by the police and be subject to a fine.”
DVSA hope sharing this data will make it easier to crackdown on those who try and drive without a valid MOT. This will have the benefit of improving MOT compliance and improve the volume of tests completed by Authorised Testing Stations.
It should be noted, though not mentioned in the blog, driving a car without an MOT may invalidate the vehicle insurance and make it impossible to apply for vehicle tax. Therefore, the police could still seize and impound the vehicle and the driver could still be subject to driving points and fines.
Recalls
DVSA have been working alongside vehicle manufacturers and have access to real-time data which means they hope to further improve digital services. However, access to the manufacturer’s databases seems to be limited. Currently details of the outstanding safety recall type is not made available to either the customer or the Tester. Unless the MOT takes place at a main dealership, where a vehicle manufacturer’s recall check can be completed or the customer completes research on the general government website to see what recall is applicable to the vehicle, the safety recall type potentially remains unknown.
Changes to the MOT Test Certificate in July meant a notice of an outstanding Safety Recall is printed on the MOT Test Certificate and Testers are prompted if a recall is outstanding at the time of the test. Details of the recall type as explained above remains unknown.
In many ways this is a bit of a blow to independent and sole trader garages who are not authorised by the Manufacturers to complete outstanding recalls on behalf of their customers.
Other matters discussed in the blog are:-
- Digital Service Improvements
- Going Paperless
- Making Training Relevant
To read the blog in full go to https://mattersoftesting.blog.gov.uk/what-were-working-on-better-data-sharing-and-reviewing-paper-documents-across-the-mot/
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