Drivint To An Mot - How Far Can I Go?

I know the only time your allowed to drive a car on the road without Tax or MOT is on the way to an MOT as long as it is pre-booked.

My question is, what is the maximum distance allowed to get to the MOT station?

I'm kinda guessing that driving from Yorkshire to Glasgow for an MOT could be seen as taking the piss?? Although there is nothing on the internet stating it has to be your local MOT Station.

Here's what i found:

http://www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q600.htm

Question:

Can I drive my car without an MOT?

Answer:

No, a car must be insured, taxed and have an MOT to be driven on the road. The penalty for driving a car without an MOT is a fine.

The most relevant exception to this is if you are driving your vehicle to and from a pre-arranged appointment for an MOT and you must take a direct route to the garage (but the vehicle must be insured). Although you must be aware that most failures of MOTs are offences in their own right so you may be committing other offences, for example defective tyres, brakes, lights, steering, horns etc.

However if you are stopped by the police on the way to or from the garage the onus is on you to prove that you had a pre-arranged appointment. Where possible it is always advisable to book your car in for an MOT in good time.

There are one or two other very minor exceptions in addition to the above but they do not really apply to the ordinary car driver.

As long as i take A1(M) -> A66 -> M74 then it is a direct route to Glasgow so i'm wondering if it is feasible. Don't really want points or a ban though.

Thanks!

David.

This post has been edited by David Hallworth on April 24, 2008 11:12 am

In theory as long as you're pre booked in and its feasible you could arrive in Glasgow within that timeframe, then you're not breaking the law. I guess though its down to the discretion of the officer stopping you, whether they actually believe you intend to take it to MOT or not.

If you had the appointment card etc with you that would lend some weight to it.

Personally, as long as the car was insured, and wasn't falling to bits, I'd risk it.

Ciarán

Hi David

If you were to drive a long distance for an MOT there is the fact that your insurance will most likely be declared invalid after an major accident even if not at fault. The failure to consult the insurance company prior to driving long distances without an MOT will be seen as witholding material facts. In recent years when I have insured an extra car for a short period I have been asked to confirm that it has an MOT so it is a subject area that interests insurers and considered a reportable item. Even if you have a written opinion from a professional inspection of the car that it was MOT fit the police/courts are likely to take the view that you could reasonably MOT it close to the point of pick up then drive it home.

Regards

XMexc

This post has been edited by xmexclusive on April 24, 2008 01:50 pm

i think the key point here is what is reasonable

if youre stopped, i would of thought the officer is gonna scratch his head and think a hundred miles for a mot, whose he trying to kid

and if it is a grey area in the law, ie no precedent had been set, youre into a legal battle

cause the chief constable will also think no way, and prosecute as a test case

so when it goes to court i reckon that they also would think that it is unreasonable to travel this distance, no matter what the how the original law was written, statute laws are always added/interpreted by judges, hence common law.

and me reckons not only a fine but the car would of got towed away when the officer first stopped you!!!

Agreed!

No tax disk displayed = slight probability of being pulled. Moderate probability of being noticed by a number plate recognition camera somewhere.

No MOT = Who's going to know, so why worry? as long as you ensure the car is roadworthy. A few days without an mot is hardly going to bother anyone or anything apart from your conscience.

Must admit I always schedule my road tax to expire at the mid point of my mot dates & I've been known to stretch my MOT's to longer than 12 months quite a few times.

If the worst happens it's a technical infringement- £60 fine and 3 points.



Perhaps this is my soapbox opportunity - this may sound big-headed, but for me the mot test is a useless formality. I consider the mot is for people who know diddly squat about cars and need the government to protect them from their ignorance and incompetance.

I keep all my road cars maintained to beyond mot standard at ALL times and I've NEVER had a car fail an mot test in my 24 yrs of motoring. I've generally had at least two cars at any time & have never had a car younger than 6 yrs old either. If anything needs doing to my cars, it gets done, or the car is not driven until it is done. Simple really. This is why I begrudge paying for three mot's per year as a mere formality. For the collective good, however, I have to acquiesce.

The car I am buying is located in Bradford at the moment.

It failed its MOT because there is an ABS light on and a hole in the exhaust. It is road worthy really but silly things that don't allow it to pass a test.

I have a 16 foot Ifor Williams trailer and a Discovery so i'm thinking towing it home might be a safer bet really!

David.

David,

A trick I have heard about is to 'break down' and get the RAC or AA to recover the car. They tend not to try and fix brakes or steering so you could 'Doctor' something.

I know more than one person who has used this trick, it's dishonest but may work, provided the patrolman can't fix it and they can be really good.

Thinking about it a duff engine ecu would beat them, have you got a spare?

Otherwise I would tow it and not take the risk.

Best of luck

John

Any ANPR camera whether in a patrol car or a traffic policeman's hand at the side of the road or static roadside camera.

If it was a car/policeman then you would get pulled over. If it was a static roadside camera then I recon you would get a fine in the post straight away if you are on the motorway and a big legal fight as already discussed to try to get off it.

Don't drive into the city of London itself without an MOT or you will get pulled over very quickly. ANPR cameras on all lanes of all the roads and an instant response from a patrol car just in case you are a terrorist. I should think they rate no MOT as lower priority than stolen etc, but people with no direct insurance on the car (e.g. trade policy covering all cars) have a right pain of a time as they are constantly pulled over there.

Hi All

Just to confirm Rowan's point. Virtually all roads side traffic management cameras are ready for ANPR it is just that the software to do the recognition and automatic reporting that is slowly being enabled. The number of automatic fines posted out last year increased by a factor of 4 over the previous year. If you trailer an unlicenced car cover the number plates (front and back) with gaffer tape. Whilst I appreciate that currently there is a good chance of having no trouble the hassel of hopefully proving you were in the right just is not worth it.

Regards

XMexc

Good point - hadn't thought of that! Do they take a photo when they flag up a problem number plate, or do they just add it to the 'list' for notices to be sent out?

This post has been edited by rowanmoor on April 25, 2008 02:53 pm

Wirdy

I agree totally, Mot's are for Muppet's (not the green furry kind ) bald tires, blown bulbs, headlights that point at the sky, whatever, these sorts of things should be rectified immediately. I was talking to the guy that mot'd my car last time and he was saying you wouldn't believe what they get in, he said one woman came in with brake shoes so badly worn the metal backing was like tissue paper, and someone who's wipers had stopped working completely a couple of months after the previous years mot just left them.........nearly 10 months with no wipers the thought of people like that on the roads scares the hell out of me.

Dean

Any ANPR camera whether in a patrol car or a traffic policeman's hand at the side of the road or static roadside camera.

Fair point. But hopefully way down on the priority list after stolen, no tax, no insurance, known drugs car, car spotted near scene of a crime, etc.

Really depends on whether the rozzer is really bothered and wants to use some of his valuable time to issue you with a producer that will subsequently at worst cost you a £60 fine.

If your car looks well maintained and you as driver look fairly decent and you're not driving a rusty Vauxhall Astra / Corsa / Cavalier, Ford Escort / Orion / Sierra then I think you're unlikely to pop up on anyone's radar.

.....or driving an XM you're never going to get stopped because:-

1) They're mainly driven by law-abiding, more mature drivers.

2) If it's still driveable and looks fairly decent it'll be being driven by an enthusiast who look after their cars.

3) The police officer might worry that it may never start again if it's ever stopped

This post has been edited by wirdy on April 25, 2008 07:25 pm

Hi Wirdy

I agree with your analysis of police patrol action but such manual interventions are quietly being scaled down anyway. The no tax initive is a totally automated system using digital imaging running on the back of upgraded traffic management cameras. With just a few running it is issuing 1000's of fixed penalty notices each month and this will escalate quickly. There are records of both number plates and also the front windscreen view.

Regards

XMexc

careful here - if it's not taxed, they will refuse you and maybe even cancel your membership and inform the others.... and they are getting wise to this trick, so just might check the tax disc. Not sure if they have access to the MOT status, if they do, you're sunk.

You'd need to make sure that the car looks like a runner that broke down, and given it's George's car, it probably looks in good shape.

rgds
Dave