A Freedom of Information request to the 45 police forces in the UK found that since 2012 drivers have been hit with 424,316 penalties for driving without a valid MoT certificate. The typical fine for an out-of-date MoT is a £100 fixed penalty notice, which was increased from £60 in August 2013. However, fines can go up to £1,000 if taken to court.
It’s a Fair Cop!
Figures from the 36 police forces replying to a Freedom of Information request showed forces earn on average £7.5 million a year from MoT fines. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) shares its MoT data with the police, who in return use ANPR cameras to fine drivers with out-of-date MoTs.
West Yorkshire Police issued the highest number of penalties to drivers, with over 121,000 since 2012, with the Metropolitan Police in London in second place, handing out over 64,000 penalties.
A spokesman from West Yorkshire Police said: “Driving a vehicle without a valid MoT is taken seriously. The proactive work that our officers continue to do shows that this is an unacceptable risk and as such anyone found without a valid MoT will be dealt with positively.”
MoT? What MoT?
A Carbuyer poll found a third of drivers said they’d forgotten to renew their current MoT on time, with 15% leaving it over a month overdue.
Although some car dealers offer automatic MoT reminders, there’s no central system in place like there is for Vehicle Excise Duty – which sees all motorists automatically sent an annual notification when their road tax is due.
The DVSA recently announced it’s working on one for MoTs, but said the system is likely to require drivers to sign up, rather than sending notifications automatically. A DVSA spokesman said “We’re currently testing an MoT reminder service where initially vehicle owners can sign up to receive a reminder e-mail at four weeks and two weeks before their MoT is due.”
With most households owning and driving more than one car, this issue is only likely to become more tricky to manage. But the question is, who should take responsibility for remembering? The car owner or DVSA? One to debate…
The Top 10 Offenders!
- West Yorkshire – 121,000 fines
- Metropolitan Police – 64,000 fines
- Police Scotland – 63,000 fines
- Essex – 23,600 fines
- Merseyside – 23,400 fines
- Hertfordshire – 15,000 fines
- Hampshire – 10,000 fines
- South Yorkshire – 9,700 fines
- Suffolk – 8,300 fines
- Northern Ireland – 6,700 fines
How does the Club help?
With so many reminders and calendars available, we thought that we could help our members out by providing you with a timely MOT and insurance reminder all on your favourite Website. If you are logged in as a user on this website you can add vehicle details into your account. Go to “My Account” then click on “View Profile” add your vehicle details, enter your MOT due date in and we will provide you with a reminder nearer the time, simple.
