By Giles Milner, July 11, 2018
Are you one the more than four million drivers who admit to never getting an MOT test before the previous one expired? Did you know that the average length of time these motorists have driven without a valid MOT is 37 days? While a third of those missing their MOT deadline got a valid certificate within three days, 4% of those driving without an MOT did so for more than ten months. Cumulatively, British motorists have spent more than 422,200 years on the road without an MOT.
Research shows that one of the top ten reasons given by drivers for not having a valid MOT is that new car owners often forget their car’s third year MOT anniversary. Another common reason stated is that they could not get an MOT appointment in time. Drivers can put their car through the MOT test up to one month before their current MOT runs out while still keeping the same expiry date for the following year. This allows them more flexibility and enables car owners to plan better and not to have to scramble to find an appointment close to their deadline. Londoners appear to have the most casual attitude to the MOT test, with nearly a quarter (22%) of drivers in the capital admitting to having driven their car without a valid test certificate. Kwik Fit found that London drivers who have not renewed their MOT drive for nearly three months (88 days) on average before doing so. Drivers in the South West are the quickest to spot their mistake, with the average time driving without an MOT in that region just over 5 days. Drivers give many different reasons for not getting an MOT Test but the most common seems to be simply forgetfulness. The most worrying are those who knew their car would fail the MOT test and so drive it until they got it fixed. But there are also those who felt that their car was safe and didn’t need the MOT to prove it. The test is a crucial element in keeping our roads safe and can spot issues that might not be obvious to us in our day to day driving but could be significant in an emergency.” The table below shows the most common reasons given by drivers for not getting an MOT in time.| Reason | Percentage of people saying this was the main reason for missing their MOT deadline |
| I didn’t have a note of the date when it expired | 19% |
| I didn’t realise the car needed an MOT | 16% |
| I couldn’t get an MOT appointment in time | 10% |
| I had lost my paperwork for the previous MOT | 8% |
| I moved house and didn’t receive my postal reminder | 7% |
| I was not driving the car very much so didn’t bother | 6% |
| I was concerned about the condition of the car and needed to get it fixed before putting it through the MOT | 6% |
| I was out of the country | 4% |
| My partner did not remind me | 4% |
| I had the car from new and missed the three year anniversary | 3% |
| I was confident about my car’s safety so didn’t feel I needed an MOT | 3% |
| My garage did not remind me | 2% |
