Driving from England to Northern Ireland for booked MOT, without road tax

ontheroad1970

I would suggest that getting pinged for no MOT would be quite a common reason to get pulled over as it suggests other things may not be in place

Car_54

ontheroad1970 said:

I would suggest that getting pinged for no MOT would be quite a common reason to get pulled over as it suggests other things may not be in place

But it won't happen to the OP. He has an MOT.

Goudy

Car_54 said:

ontheroad1970 said:

I would suggest that getting pinged for no MOT would be quite a common reason to get pulled over as it suggests other things may not be in place

But it won't happen to the OP. He has an MOT.

Yes, it would get pinged for no tax.

Then the OP would tell them it's not taxed because they are taking it for an MOT, but it already has a valid MOT.
So there is no reason for using it on the road without tax.

Grey_Critic

And of course there is no guarantee that it will actually be taken for an MOT at the other end. During my years in the trade we had a lot of No Shows.

Aretnap

sheramber said:

jimjames said:

Grey_Critic said:

Some body raised a similar question a coupleof years ago I seem to recall. The law is very clear any vehicle on a Public Road must be taxed, insured and have a valid MOT. As others have said you would have some difficulties convincing plod  - plus should you be involved in an accident ( and yes they do happen and not only to others) then the little money you might think you have saved would likely cost you a lot of money.

That's just not factually correct in all situations. It is entirely legal to drive have no MOT or tax when you are travelling to a prebooked MOT. Obviously insurance is required. There is no requirement to go to your nearest MOT centre. I've previously driven a long way round the M25 in a car with no MOT or tax on my way to a prebooked MOT, around 100 miles journey. Despite all the ANPR cameras in that area I had no issues and received no penalties.

How would the police know you were travelling to a booked MOT?
 More  likely the cameras were not  being monitored at the time you passed. 

It's not that they've not monitored, more that it's not actually what they're for. Roadside ANPR cameras, fixed ones at any rate, are mostly used to track vehicles linked to drug dealing, organized crime, terrorism etc. Not to prosecute minor motoring offences.

My wife managed to drive for eight months with no insurance without ever being pinged, stopped or persecuted. Only found out when she got the continuous insurance warning letter.

(When she bought a new car she assumed that her insurance would just transfer automatically to her new car without her needing to do anything. I know, I know...)