New data suggests a quarter of cars that pass the MOT do so with advisories that could pose a danger over time.
Research by ProTyre from 150 nationwide garages suggests that such a scenario could apply to up to 9,550,000 vehicles on UK roads. According to the company’s findings, the most common MOT advisories surround tyres and brakes.
Nearly one in six drivers who pass their MOT leaving the forecourt with advice from engineers to have them fixed soon.
Around one in seven advisories relate to vehicle suspension and one in 45 are related to headlights.
Worryingly, around 12% of drivers leave the MOT with two or more advisories.
Once unroadworthy and discovered by authorities, driving a vehicle with defective tyres, brakes or with unfit parts that could cause danger is punishable with a fine of up to £2,500 and three penalty points.
Dangerous defect
Protyre’s National Retail Operations Manager, David Sholicar, comments: “Most drivers breathe a sigh of relief when their car passes its MOT, but the advisories are a warning that your vehicle could still become unroadworthy in a matter of weeks if you ignore them.
“For example, a tyre advisory could be because the tread is nearing the 1.6mm minimum depth, or the tyres may have cracking due to the tyres age, or a brake advisory could be because the brakes are nearing the wear limit, or showing signs of deterioration– potentially posing a safety risk to you and your passengers.
“Despite poor tyre maintenance and faulty brakes being the top two most common reasons for vehicle accidents in Britain, they are the most common advisory for cars that pass their MOTs.
“Some research even suggests that as much as half of British drivers even ignore warnings of a faulty car part until payday.”
Increasing failure rate
Over 10 million vehicles have failed their MOT since the introduction of the new test last year.
In just over a year since the MOT changed, Over a third (33%) of vehicles failed the new tests, and almost one-in-10 (9%) failed with a ‘dangerous’ outcome. The findings comes after a Freedom of Information request was approved for breakdown cover provider Green Flag.
The new MOT test results show: 30,488,960 MOT tests taken nationwide, 10,001,293 (33%) of these were fails and 20,487,667 (67%) were passes. Of these, 2,817,967 (9%) vehicles yielded dangerous results and 9,095,989 (44%) yielded major results.
“Drivers should be aware of the risks of driving a faulty car,” said Mark Newbery, Green Flag’s commercial director. “It not only endangers other motorists, but drivers and their passengers alike. Problems with vehicles will only worsen if not seen to, costing more money in the long run.”
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