MoT shake-up for large van sector?
The RMI said its MoT members were frequently seeing vans coming in for their first MoT with 200,000 miles on the clock, with some having done up to 300,000 miles. It reports continually rising failure rates with the latest results from VOSA revealing that on average 45.6% of Class VII vans fail their MoT. The two main defects causing them to fail are lights (43% of all test failures) and brakes (41%). John Ball, the chairman of RMI MoT, said: “The Government needs to act on safety grounds as the current regulations are out of date. With new data available for the first time, showing that two thirds of the highest failing vehicles at first MoT tests are vans, RMI MoT believes there is a strong case for testing Class VII vehicles at year one not three. “Testing annually from new would ensure these large vehicles better meet ongoing legal safety requirements while ensuring maintenance regimes are better adhered to. Annual testing from year one would bring them in line with similar vans over 3,500kg, minibuses, ambulances and taxis.” The campaign is being supported by Brake, whose campaigns officer Ellen Booth said: “It makes no sense to exclude white vans from safety regulations brought in for other types of commercial vehicles. It means that unscrupulous businesses can scrimp on maintenance costs at the expense of public safety."
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The Retail Motor Industry Federation is launching a campaign to reduce the first MoT test date for large vans from three years to a year following claims that every other white van in this class tested over the age of three years is unroadworthy.
