For all vehicles older than 3 years old, the MOT (Ministry of Transport) test is an annual occurrence that determines whether or not your car or other vehicle is still roadworthy. To fail an MOT test is essentially to lose your car, even if it’s only a temporary loss while you address any problems with your vehicle that are flagged up.

Among the Pedal system’s 20 fantastic features is the “MOT Reminders” feature. This will not only inform you about when its time to book your car in for an MOT test, but will also provide you with a complete record of tests that you have taken, whether you passed or failed them, and if you failed it will reveal the problem that were flagged up.

Pedal MOT Reminders Feature

What Does it Do?

With your sensor in place and with the information on the last valid MOT test conducted stored within the system, Pedal will then know when your next test date is due, and will remind you in good time about booking the test and conducting it before the current MOT certificate expires.

Over the years of using the app, you’ll start building up a record of MOT tests, both pass and fail. You’ll be able then to quickly scan through the data to look for failures, which will be highlighted prominently by using a red font. By each “Fail” indicator there is a list of problems that explain the failure that need to be addressed.

In the long-term, what you have here is now part of your car’s service history. This could be an invaluable tool, allowing you to quickly prove to buyers or even law enforcement officers that the car you are driving has a valid MOT. Beyond just giving you a data and pass/fail indicator, the Pedal MOT Reminders feature will also show:

• Information on both major and minor defects to be repaired, with a reminder to either repair immediately (major defects) or as soon as possible (minor defects)
• Your MOT test number – a 12-digit number that a relevant party could look up and verify
• The expiry date of your current MOT certificate – a reminder to both you and others when the next test is due, and proof that your car is currently roadworthy

Why is This an Important Feature?

There are some people who skip an MOT either willingly or accidentally. In either case, they don’t feel compelled to act because they don’t know or don’t care about the gravity of driving without a valid MOT. Some are under the impression that the very worst that could happen to them is a slap on the wrist and a fine. They couldn’t be more wrong.

New rules brought into effect in May 2018 have created much stricter rules and controls regarding penalties for those who operate a vehicle that doesn’t carry a valid MOT. Punitive measures under the new rules include:

• Steep fines
• Potentially 3 points on your driving licence

First of all, despite some people believing the rules were changed for the minimum MOT age, it still remains at 3 years. There was discussion of raising it to 4 years, which is the source of a common belief that it is now 4 years. In the end, however, lawmakers rejected this proposal, keeping it at 3 years.

Second, the £1,000 fine for driving without an MOT remains in effect under the new rules, but some additional conditions have been added. New rules state that you can now also be fined if your car is deemed to have any fault that makes is not roadworthy, even if your current MOT is in date. The implication here is that drivers are now more responsible than ever for monitoring and staying on top if their car maintenance. This is a key area in which Pedal will help you.

The new rules have created designations for faults discovered during the MOT test. These are: Minor, Major, and Dangerous. If you get either of the latter two, then you automatically fail your MOT test and that is stored on a national MOT record (and on your Pedal system, for your reference). If you are then discovered driving with one of these faults unaddressed, you will automatically receive the £1,000 fine.

If authorities discover a new major or dangerous defect that may have emerged after your MOT test was done --- meaning you now have a valid MOT --- they can still use the same punitive measures against you. In fact, discovery of a dangerous fault on a car you are driving, whether the MOT is currently valid or not, will result in a fine of £2,500.

COVID-19 Extension and Confusion

Back in March 2020, the Department for Transport announced that owing to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, any MOT test that was due after March 2020 would be subject to a 6-month extension so as not to force people to make a trip to the mechanic during a time when public health concerns were at their most worrisome and lockdowns were being put in place.

This was a well-intentioned move, of course, but unfortunately after the six-month grace period started to expire, confusion abounded among drivers who remained unsure as to when their car’s next MOT was due. With the reimplementation of restrictions and punitive measures imminent, there were an estimated 9 million drivers (about 1 driver for every 3 registered vehicles) who were unsure about their exact MOT date.

Pedal will always help keep you out of this situation. With advance reminders on when the next MOT test is due, and details provided on what exactly needs to be fixed and what has been fixed in the past, it’s all the information you’ll ever need to keep you on the right side of the authorities.

More Information: The MOT Test

A normal MOT test costs a maximum of £54.85 under current DVSA maximum charge rules. It involves dozens of checks, including your fuel system, lights, brakes, seatbelts, windscreen and wipers, the exhaust, suspension, handbrake, tyre pressure, mirrors, and more. Another key part of the MOT is an emissions test. Interestingly, however, and despite popular belief, the MOT doesn’t check for engine, clutch or gearbox faults. Those would be checked during a regular service.

Drivers who are worried about “cowboy” mechanics discovering illusory problems that they then charge you to fix can make use of impartial council-run MOT centres. These don’t offer repair services, and so there is no incentive there to find specific faults to subsequently charge you for.

The MOT isn’t just some bureaucratic annoyance designed to keep us in misery. It’s an enforceable standard that helps ensure that cars on the road meet the right standard of safety. It keeps you, your passengers, other drivers, pedestrians and road users safer on the road. It also helps ensure no one is unduly spilling toxins into the air to further deteriorate our natural environment.

Pedal - Keeping You on the Right Side of the MOT

Sign up and login to your Pedal dashboard to get information on your MOT status and to confirm when your next test will be. You can also get reminders about other maintenance and repairs that are needed, some of which will have a bearing on whether or not you pass your MOT. Stay up to date, avoid the fines and other punishments, and let Pedal help you to make Britain’s roads safer.