A serious EU threat to our motoring safety

[foxysteph]

A campaign called ProMOTe was launched on Thursday last because of a serious and life threatening proposal to replace the UK's MOT model with an EU version instead.

As things stand, one in three of our cars fail the UK MOT when they are 3 years old and for many busy motorists the MOT is our only annual safety check after that. The EU wants to change this to their MOT testing regime ie checking cars for the first time after 4 years and then every 2 years.

The ProMOTe campaign provides the evidence, if needed, that when cars are tested less frequently they are less safe and more likely to cause accidents. And then there is the likely loss of '000s of jobs in the motor industry.

I realise that MOTs aren't a girl's favourite topic of conversation and that we aren't always the target of such communications but...
PLEASE SIGN THE ePETITION at ProMOTe in support of the status quo here.

The real worry is that with a very new Transport Secretary (Justine Greening replaced Philip Hammond when he moved over to replace Mr Fox) and lots of other matters on her agenda (like speed limits on motorways ??) the lurking EU proposal might just slip in unheeded via the UK's back door. With the safest roads in Europe we'd like to see this remain so hence my request.

If you are interested, by all means read more about this at the FOXY Lady blog.

Thank you SO much.

And there is probably more grit on European roads in winter.

And I don't remember hearing about "leaves on the line" in Europe.

That's because you aren't reading the Belgian or French or other continental news, Claig. They do all have transport problems in bad weather, same as us. Although I'm prepared to believe that other countries may have better systems for clearing leaves off the line. I'm a commuter so just as pissed off about delayed trains as anyone else, but it is sadly true that wet leaves on railway tracks are a bugger, as they are ground into a paste by the wheels, and it makes the wheels slip.

We should bring back steam engines, no problem with leaf litter as the sparks from the chimney set fire to any trees that grew near the track...

Steam engines sound like a good solution . But they might upset believers in the "carbon footprint".

coal's a renewable resource, if you are prepared to wait around a few million years.

'coal's a renewable resource'

Maybe that is why they shut down all our coal mines, to jeopardise our independence and deny us access to our energy resources.

Personally I think given the safety records of cars nowadays that a 2 year check after 4 years might not be such a bad thing. Certainly a three year old car nowadays is probably only just about getting going.

Yes I'm sure some drivers will take the piss and have illegal tyres, dodgy headlights and exhausts but it seems stupid to inconvenience the vast majority just because there are a few bad eggs.

It's like saying I should submit myself to be fingerprinted once a year in case I committed a crime.

My friend's brakes failed the day after her car passed the MOT. I happened to mention it to my mechanic and he said that as long as the car passes the 'rolling road' brake test it will pass the MOT and they are not allowed to take the wheels off and actually look at the brakes to see if they are rusty or whatever. He reckons that brakes worn down to the bare metal can function well enough to pass the MOT (but of course they are an accident waiting to happen) so it's not necessarily a guarantee of safety.
Although I agree there will be more people trying to eke a few more miles out of balding tyres or failing to notice that they have lights not working etc, if they don't have the spectre of the MOT breathing down their necks.

Driving in the UK is different than driving in say Italy, Portugal or Greece. The weather patterns are different, the age of cars, the driving habits and license requirements are different. In a country such as France, they need to ensure cars are safe to drive in heavier snow. Also, why lower standards? Who benefits? What are the losses? From my perspective the losses are far greater than the gains. If the UK has higher standards it might be for a good reason.

I stand by my dislike of the EU. I have not had the opportunity to vote for any of these people who are making decisions that affect the country I am from. I might not live in the UK but I care about the integrity of the right to representation. My grandparents fought in WW2 so future generations would not live under a dictatorship. The EU is a dictatorship for as long as the people of the EU are not able to vote.

Defiantly not MOTs get right up my nose and are treated by our local car dealer as a licence to fleece you.

There are far more potholes in Belgium than I have ever encountered in UK.

Next; I have lived in Belgium for 5 years now, and my car has to have a controle technique (MOT) each year. If it fails, then I have about 2 weeks to get the fault rectified and the test redone. I can't see any country that benefits from the income from these tests allowing the interval between tests to be extended.

Thank you all for reading this and hopefully signing the petition. Delighted to see such interest. If 1 in 3 cars are failing MOT now (and the UK system isn't perfect I agree) just imagine how much less roadworthy our cars would be if we used the EU's 4 years model! I'll keep you posted re outcome.

For Maisie - no this doesn't affect our business; FOXY Lady Drivers Club www.foxyladydrivers.com doesn't sell MOT's - we just provide advice, information about female friendly businesses and support services. And we speak up about daft motoring issues on behalf of women ;).

For SardineQueen and Cogitoergosometimes - sorry if I offended you by using the word 'girls'. Or if you thought I was patronising women in any way. How awful - clearly got my chat style wrong; just want as many women as possible to know about this because these sort of messages normally go out from men in the motor industry to a mainly male audience and women need to know too!

For cookcleanerchauffer - did you mean FOXY blog at www.foxyladydrivers.com/foxyblog? It's a motoring blog for women and quite safe ;).

For Weblette - sorry to hear this; the normal penalty for driving a vehicle on the road with an expired MOT certificate is a fixed penalty notice from the police, currently £60, or a court fine up to a maximum of a £1,000. And your insurance COULD have been invalidated ;(. Good idea to get a MOT text reminder in future from www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/Mot/DG_4022108.

If I've missed anything you'd like answering, let me know.

Thanks again.

I think the proposals are perfectly sensible, and this campaign is nothing but scaremongering with a side order of EU-bashing.

I don't see how bringing in European MOTs will make UK cars less safe. The MOTs we have in France, whilst they are only every 2 years, are much more stingent than the UK ones. And if you sell a car your have to get it MOTed first (or rather have an MOT within 6 months preceeding the sale).

So in fact 2nd hand cars get scrapped rather than re-sold, and cars on the road are therefore generally safer than in the UK.

'I can't see any country that benefits from the income from these tests allowing the interval between tests to be extended.' As Belgium charges 45 euros a pop for the MOT equivalent and the retest, then they aren't going to change their rules and again, the MOT equivalent here is every year.

Most car dealerships use the MOT test purely as an opportunity to sell more parts which in most cases are not justified.

Steer clear of discounted MOT'S as these companies usually recoup the discount by advising additional work which is notreally needed.

Brother-in-law is in the industry and is looking to change career as the corruption is widespread,especially among the franchised dealers.

This is what is good about the Belgian system - you have to take the car to a designated test centre, run by the govt, who test the car and tell you pass, fail, warnings etc. You get the problem sorted at your own garage, and then take it back to be retested.

There is no hidden agenda, and no way the test centre can profit, as they do not fix the faults, they just test the car.

Northern Ireland has similar set up.