Failed MOT car allowed on road

pothole50

I have a question to ask about my friends MOT. His car failed the MOT and he can't afford to have it repaired until next pay day. The car has now run out of MOT but he is still keeping it on the road outside his house, it is taxed and insured. I was told years ago that it was illegal to keep a car on the road without an MOT, but my friends thinks as long as it is insured and taxed it is Ok to keep it parked outside his house as long as he does not drive it. So who is right, perhaps the law has changed since I got my info.

Alter_ego

Darth_Vader wrote: »

It's an offence to use a vehicle on a road without an mot.

Yes but how is "use" defined?

straighttalker

Your "friend" is still committing an offence by keepin the vehicle on the public road without an MOT.

benjus

I'd be interested to know if anyone can provide any links to authoritative sources to confirm this one way or another.

Based on a bit of searching online I can see that it's widely believed that this is illegal - however most people seem to believe that having no MOT invalidates insurance, so this should be taken with a pinch of salt.

As Alter ego says, it comes down to how "use" is defined. It's certainly an offence to drive a car without an MOT (unless to go to/from a prebooked MOT test or to/from a repair garage). But does parking on the road count as "use"? I'm inclined to say no, but I'm no expert and I'd be interested in the correct answer with sources to back it up.

HappyMJ

pothole50 wrote: »

I have a question to ask about my friends MOT. His car failed the MOT and he can't afford to have it repaired until next pay day. The car has now run out of MOT but he is still keeping it on the road outside his house, it is taxed and insured. I was told years ago that it was illegal to keep a car on the road without an MOT, but my friends thinks as long as it is insured and taxed it is Ok to keep it parked outside his house as long as he does not drive it. So who is right, perhaps the law has changed since I got my info.

Is there no way he can get it off the road? It's not going to show up on an ANPR camera is it....I wouldn't worry about it.

Retrogamer

As far as i was aware it is illegal to use a motor vehicle on the public road, unless it is traveling to a pre booked MOT.

I would imagine if a vehicle is parked up with no one inside it, it would be fair to say the vehicle wasn't in use.

BeenThroughItAll

http://www.rjerrard.co.uk/law/cases/pumb.htm


This case appears to set the precedent that even a vehicle in an immobile state on the road requires an MOT.

LeafGreen

Interesting question. My first instinct was that an MOT would still be needed. However https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot/when-to-get-an-mot says "You can’t drive your vehicle on the road if the MOT has run out. You can be prosecuted if caught." so maybe not, as it does state "drive".

benjus

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

http://www.rjerrard.co.uk/law/cases/pumb.htm


This case appears to set the precedent that even a vehicle in an immobile state on the road requires an MOT.

Thanks... that does indeed appear to answer the question.

Car_54

benjus wrote: »

As Alter ego says, it comes down to how "use" is defined. It's certainly an offence to drive a car without an MOT (unless to go to/from a prebooked MOT test or to/from a repair garage). But does parking on the road count as "use"? I'm inclined to say no, but I'm no expert and I'd be interested in the correct answer with sources to back it up.

Driving the vehicle is NOT the offence: it's "using". Section 47 of the RTA 1988 doen't mention driving.

I can't find a reference in a quick search, but I'm 99% sure it includes parking.

Think of it this way. The car is taking up road space. Since your friend is not standing there in person, he's "using" the car to do it.

Looking on the bright side, it's not endorsable.

EdGasket

If no-one reports it, he should be OK. You can check tax and insurance online easily with just a number plate but I don't think you can check the MoT unless you have the V5 number or recent MoT number so even malicious neighbours should not find out.

Even if someone does report it, the police won't be interested.