Failed MOT - Dangerous fault - now fixed- Old MOT still in date

charlie71

Hi  - I hope someone can help. 

My car failed its MOT yesterday (rear brake pads too low).  

The failure form stated a dangerous fault and not to drive it until it is fixed.
They allowed me to drive it away - and I got the pads changed at my local/usual garage this afternoon. 

I called the MOT garage to get it retested, but they couldnt fit me in today/tomorrow - and I have to wait till Monday.

Can anyone tell me if I can drive the car over the weekend now that the fault has been fixed please?

The old MOT does not expire till next weekend. 


Thanks.

GrumpyDil

Yes. The old MOT is still valid. 

charlie71

Thanks GrumpyDil - appreciate you taking the time to respond. 

SonofMaurice

Take your pick, you can either believe random people on the internet or look at what the official government website says:  (from https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot/after-the-test)

Driving a vehicle that’s failed

You can take your vehicle away if:

• your current MOT certificate is still valid
• no ‘dangerous’ problems were listed in the MOT

Otherwise, you’ll need to get it repaired before you can drive.
If you can take your vehicle away, it must still meet the minimum standards of roadworthiness at all times.

sevenhills

charlie71 said:

My car failed its MOT yesterday (rear brake pads too low).  

The failure form stated a dangerous fault and not to drive it until it is fixed.
They allowed me to drive it away - and I got the pads changed at my local/usual garage this afternoon. 

It's okay to drive the car once it's fixed, if you still have a MOT; but you should not have driven it with a "dangerous fault".

Driving a vehicle that’s failed

You can take your vehicle away if:

• your current MOT certificate is still valid
• no ‘dangerous’ problems were listed in the MOT

https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot/after-the-test

GrumpyDil

Yes, I decided not to point out it shouldn't have been driven but good to see we all agree that the original mot remains valid until it's expiry date which was the question being asked. 

Car_54

GrumpyDil said:

Yes, I decided not to point out it shouldn't have been driven but good to see we all agree that the original mot remains valid until it's expiry date which was the question being asked. 

It shouldn't have been driven from the test centre. But equally, it should not have been driven TO the centre.

charlie71

Yep.  Am in agreement that it shouldn't have been driven away after the test.  Was a bit weird when he told me to take it to get some new pads somewhere and bring it back for a retest, without giving me a quote to do them there.  

Luckily I guess it was less than a total of 10 minutes of driving to both home, and the place that sorted the issue the next day.  

facade

charlie71 said:

Yep.  Am in agreement that it shouldn't have been driven away after the test.  Was a bit weird when he told me to take it to get some new pads somewhere and bring it back for a retest, without giving me a quote to do them there.  

Luckily I guess it was less than a total of 10 minutes of driving to both home, and the place that sorted the issue the next day.  

Low brake pads is a technicality.

For MOT purposes they are a fail, as despite the oft repeated claim that the MOT is only a snapshot of what the car is like today, right now, this instant, it actually has a sensible bit of seeing into the future, so there has to be enough left in the brake pads for a few months driving.

They don't suddenly stop working, or make a car liable to total brake failure and exploding in a ball of flames when it goes off a cliff at any second like the tabloids claim- it took them many thousands of miles to go from 10mm or so to 1.5mm, they aren't going to nothing in the next couple of miles to Kwikfit.

Car_54

facade said:

charlie71 said:

Yep.  Am in agreement that it shouldn't have been driven away after the test.  Was a bit weird when he told me to take it to get some new pads somewhere and bring it back for a retest, without giving me a quote to do them there.  

Luckily I guess it was less than a total of 10 minutes of driving to both home, and the place that sorted the issue the next day.  

Low brake pads is a technicality.

For MOT purposes they are a fail, as despite the oft repeated claim that the MOT is only a snapshot of what the car is like today, right now, this instant, it actually has a sensible bit of seeing into the future, so there has to be enough left in the brake pads for a few months driving.

They don't suddenly stop working, or make a car liable to total brake failure and exploding in a ball of flames when it goes off a cliff at any second like the tabloids claim- it took them many thousands of miles to go from 10mm or so to 1.5mm, they aren't going to nothing in the next couple of miles to Kwikfit.

True. But if the OP had been stopped by the police - or involved in an accident, even unrelated to brakes - it would be hard to defence a charge of driving an unroadworthy vehicle.

facade

Car_54 said:

facade said:

charlie71 said:

Yep.  Am in agreement that it shouldn't have been driven away after the test.  Was a bit weird when he told me to take it to get some new pads somewhere and bring it back for a retest, without giving me a quote to do them there.  

Luckily I guess it was less than a total of 10 minutes of driving to both home, and the place that sorted the issue the next day.  

Low brake pads is a technicality.

For MOT purposes they are a fail, as despite the oft repeated claim that the MOT is only a snapshot of what the car is like today, right now, this instant, it actually has a sensible bit of seeing into the future, so there has to be enough left in the brake pads for a few months driving.

They don't suddenly stop working, or make a car liable to total brake failure and exploding in a ball of flames when it goes off a cliff at any second like the tabloids claim- it took them many thousands of miles to go from 10mm or so to 1.5mm, they aren't going to nothing in the next couple of miles to Kwikfit.

True. But if the OP had been stopped by the police - or involved in an accident, even unrelated to brakes - it would be hard to defence a charge of driving an unroadworthy vehicle.

I avoided that as I don't know enough about the Law.

Do brake pads worn below an arbitrary limit, whilst the brake efficiency is still within acceptable limits constitute an unroadworthy vehicle? I would suggest not until the wear affects the efficiency of the brakes.

The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 Section 18 only makes reference to the braking system being "maintained in good and efficient working order* and be properly adjusted." and efficiency of operation.

Worn brakepads will not affect the braking efficiency until there is no friction material left, which may be hundreds or thousands of miles hence.

In contrast, for tyres (section 27) minimum tread depth is stated {as 1.0mm- there must be an amendment somewhere as 1.6mm is publicised as the limit for prosecution}

Worn tyres will affect the grip of the tyre on a wet road.

A failed MOT is not an automatic guarantee that a vehicle is unroadworthy, in the same way that a passed one is not a guarantee that it is roadworthy, the MOT indicates that certain requirements were met at the time of the test.

*has "good and efficient working order" been ruled to include friction material thicker than an arbitrary number?- I don't know