Scrapping MOT tests ‘wouldn’t affect accident rates’

Scrapping the MOT test wouldn’t increase accident rates and would free up cash to invest in safety campaigns and driverless vehicle technology, new research suggests.

According to a report from neoliberal thinktank the Adam Smith Institute, mechanical failures cause just two per cent of accidents in the UK and US, while around 65 per cent of accidents have driver error to blame, including speeding, driving while under the influence of alcohol or not buckling up.

The study, authored by Alex Hoagland, recommends focusing efforts on reducing accidents caused by motorists, which the thinktank argues are independent of the MOT test. The report notes that the fall in accident fatalities over the past decade has nothing to do with safety testing, and instead attributes it to the introduction of new cars with better safety features.

It also points to a report from the US federal government that suggests dropping mandatory annual safety testing – which 34 states have done – has no effect on traffic fatality rates.

The institute argues that scrapping MOT tests could save Britons £250m a year on test fees and unnecessary repairs.

Among its proposals are getting ride of the test for all vehicles except imports older than three years. It also suggests reducing the frequency of MOT tests to every three to five years, and increasing the age at which a car has its first test to five years.

It wants resources to be focused on campaigns to reduce driver error, as well as investment in testing and developing driverless vehicles.

Hoagland said: “The UK has required MOT testing for decades in order to prevent crashes and fatalities from unreliable vehicles. Nowadays, vehicles are safer than ever, leading some governments to reinspect these programmes. When these safety inspections were done away with in some US states, accident rates did not change. There’s no evidence that vehicle safety inspections improve vehicle safety.”

However, the RAC has hit out at the report. Head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said: “Scrapping the MOT would be a huge backward step and a recipe for disaster.

“More than a third of all cars and vans taken in for an MOT each year initially fail, so clearly the test is picking up some problems that need addressing that might otherwise make a vehicle unsafe. And while road accidents caused by mechanical failures might be low, how much of this is as a result of the MOT test existing?

“We accept the MOT test isn’t perfect, but we’re far better to have it than not.”