Left to drive car that is illegal?

tracy1981

My car is 6 months old and has already been in the garage 3 times due to different faults.

Today it was in again as a warning light on the dash kept coming on. I sat for an hour or so then the guy came over and said there is a fault in the braking system, your brake lights may not come on. I asked for a courtesy car as the car would be illegal to drive with no brake lights surely? He said none available and left me to drive home.

Driving home I was coming up to a roundabout and applied the brake. The car in front went and I moved up a bit. There was a gap so I prepared to go but a car came round a bit to quickly so I applied the brake again. The car coming up behind obviously seeing no brake lights assumed I was going and almost hit me beeping his horn like mad.

I only passed my test 6 months ago so this is the first near miss I've had and I'm shaking so much.

I phoned the garage and went mental at them for letting me drive the car home with no brake lights.

My question is am I in the right and they shouldn't have let me drive home with no brake lights or is it safe to do so?

Thanks for reading and sorry if I'm rambling I can't stop shaking.

pulliptears

I apologise if this sounds harsh, but you knew there were problems with the braking system yet you chose to drive the car anyway? It's not about what the garage let you do - that was a choice you made yourself I'm afraid, it's not up to them to stop you.
So, in terms of your question, no I don't think you are in the right. You should have left the car with them and got the bus.

Alex-Riley.

pulliptears wrote: »

I apologise if this sounds harsh, but you knew there were problems with the braking system yet you chose to drive the car anyway? It's not about what the garage let you do - that was a choice you made yourself I'm afraid, it's not up to them to stop you.
So, in terms of your question, no I don't think you are in the right. You should have left the car with them and got the bus.

they might not have been any buses because I know where my boyfriends car goes in they are no buses my boyfriend once had to spend a night there because they were no buses as i said and no one could pick him up

dane-katie

Its not the garages fault, you knew your brake lights were not working, so it was your fault, your very lucky you didnt have an accident and the police were involved. If they dont have a cursory car available you should have made different arrangements to get home. You really should not have a driving license if your going to do stuff like this!

dane-katie

Alex-Riley. wrote: »

they might not have been any buses because I know where my boyfriends car goes in they are no buses my boyfriend once had to spend a night there because they were no buses as i said and no one could pick him up

Taxi to the nearest bus stop or station?

Alex-Riley.

dane-katie wrote: »

Taxi to the nearest bus stop or station?

he tried the taxi services none of them knew where he was and they just hung up on him

rustyboy21

Isn't it a legal requirement that you ensure that your car is road worthy and legal, i.e lights, tyres, brakes etc?

It is your responsibility to ensure this, it cannot be blamed on the garage. If they knew you had a problem beforehand, then maybe they would have had a courtsey car available. Just driving in and wanting it sorted straight away is not how a garage works.

They were courtious enough to check it out and find the fault, but not able to fix it straight away by the sounds of it.

Other means of transport would be available for you to get home, taxi's busses, trains etc, you decided to drive it home in a dangerous condition, so you must take the consequences. Driving an illegal vehicle cannot be blamed on anyone else but the driver, if they know of the fault and still drove it.

nomoneytoday

Why didn't you leave the car with the garage to get it fixed?

spike7451

If he was involved in an accident & the police were called,the cash investigators can tell if the brake lights were on at the time of the crash,as the brake lights were not working,then the police would want to know why.
If they then found out from the garage that he was informed the car was defective,then drove the car anyway,he would in all probability be charged by the police for driving a vehicle unfit for purpose (no brake lights) as well as find his vehicles insurance would be invalid & therfore be liable for the cost to repair the vehicles involved in the crash as well as lawsuits for injury.
I gather from a quick Google of 'driving with no brake lights' is also illigal.

sarahg1969

spike7451 wrote: »

If he was involved in an accident & the police were called,the cash investigators can tell if the brake lights were on at the time of the crash,as the brake lights were not working,then the police would want to know why.
If they then found out from the garage that he was informed the car was defective,then drove the car anyway,he would in all probability be charged by the police for driving a vehicle unfit for purpose (no brake lights) as well as find his vehicles insurance would be invalid & therfore be liable for the cost to repair the vehicles involved in the crash as well as lawsuits for injury.
I gather from a quick Google of 'driving with no brake lights' is also illigal.

The insurers would still have to deal with any third party claims anyway, under the terms of the RTA.

tracy1981

I am female not male.

Thanks for all replies. I was on the assumption that the garage knew what they were talking about. If it was unsafe why did they let me leave with the car? Why, in fact, did they tell me to drive home and bring the car back on Monday?

I didn't just randomly turn up. I booked the car in. It is a mobility car so I need the vehicle for my disabled daughter.