Garage owner launches petition to scrap plans to reduce MOT frequency
A petition calling for the scrapping of plans to reduce the frequency of MOT tests is quickly gaining industry support and now has more than 4,000 signatures.
Launched by Stephen Browne of Meadowfield AutoCentre in Newcastle Upon Tyne, the petition raises the safety concerns associated with a reduction in MOT frequency after Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps suggested relaxing the frequency of MOTs to every two years, rather than one to help ease the cost of living crisis.
Speaking to Garage Wire, Stephen said: “If this gets through and the frequency is extended to every two years, I would have to sack a member of staff immediately and then I’d need to put all my prices up.
“How you can call this a saving to customers, I don’t know.
“Realistically, an MOT tester can only go six months without doing an MOT before they’re no longer an MOT tester and then they’d need a demonstration test for the DVSA before they can start testing again.
“They’ll be no testing stations left by the time these vehicles will need an MOT again.”
The plans have been widely criticised within the motor trade with calls to shelve proposals that reduce road safety and lead to an actual increase in car repair and maintenance costs.
Stephen hopes to achieve 5,000 signatures during the petition’s first week before presenting it to Shapps.
He added: “I felt a responsibility to create a petition to show that we will not stand for this because it’s not safe and we need to push back against it.
“People will lose their jobs, MOT testing stations will close and then they’ll be a backlog in two years time when everyone needs an MOT again.
“In these situations, everyone assumes somebody’s going to do something but then nobody does anything and then we all shake our fists and say this should never have happened.
“I just want to show our strength and raise these very real risks – if we can all sing from the same hymn sheet, our argument is so much stronger.”
The petition can be found online here.
