Safe Speed Forums

I know of a chap who parks an old wreck of a tow truck in a residential street. This thing has not moved for a long time it is taxed and I understand it is insured. A Traffic Police Officer has said that this vehicle is not required to have an MOT certificate and because it does not move he is not interested.

I find this outrageous. Does this mean that you can have certain types of vehicle, tow trucks, cranes etc. the roadworthyness of which is never independantly checked? The VOSA website is silent on the subject. Can anyone confirm if this is true and provide more information.

I think the officer meant that parked vehicles do not require MoT test certificates. If the vehicle is being driven without an MoT then there is an offence.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Presumably this could only be a temporary situation - as soon as the road tax expired, the owner would have to either tax it (which would require an MOT where applicable) or SORN it, which would require moving it off the road.

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Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)

I'm pretty sure even a parked vehicle requires an MOT cert?

On the subject of exempt vehicles - the exemption for tow trucks is dependent on them *only ever* used for recovery purposes, ie. taking a vehicle from being broken down to a place or repair/storage. The exemption also only applies to vehicles fitted with a spec-lift too, because they can only be used for recovery, and not transportation.

I never heard that before. Is that right? You learn something new every day.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

I believe this was the case many years back that Ambulances didn't require an MOT

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Semper in excreta, nur quantitat variat.

Crown vehicles are exempt - for example, no military vehicle has an MoT certificate.

Vehicles over 3,500 Kgs do not have an MoT test per se. They are subjected to the HGV/PSV annual checks which can only be carried out at VOSA Goods vehicle testing station (or VOSA designated premises) (ie. they can't just pop down to the local garage that does MoTs).

My company vehicle is not reqired to have an MOT. However, it still has to be "road worthy". Should it not be road worthy then there's points and fines all round. Not sure I like the idea of having to take that amount of responsiblity over something I have no control over ie maintainance policy, but that's another thread.

The industry is facing critism, from what I gather because alot of people have been running badly maintain vehicles so there is much talk of self regulation to pre-empt any changes in the law which will doubtless be harsher that just obeying the say laws every one else has to.

Isn't the requirement for MOT , LIKE insurance /VED - that vehicle is on a public highway (and then being used is implied)

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

Road Traffic Act 1988 (1988 c 52)

47 Obligatory test certificates

(1) A person who uses on a road at any time, or causes or permits to be so used, a motor vehicle to which this section applies, and as respects which no test certificate has been issued within the appropriate period before that time, is guilty of an offence.

Sorry no link but should be able to find it on the opsi website.

Is a vehicle parked at the side of the road being used?

I hope a parked vehicle doesn't need an MOT, because I have no off-road parking. So if my car initially failed the test and the garage couldn't repair it right away, it would be literally impossible for me to comply with the law.

It'd help if VOSA hadn't been made self-funding and their officers actually had a clue about the vehicles they were looking at.

I got a GV9 at Lanark Cottage VOSA site a few months back (a week after my tractor unit had passed the plate) for having a non functioning speed limiter. Nevermind that the VOSA official had a tacho in front of her that showed the max possible speed as 53mph.

VOSA were forced to cancel the GV9 by the Ministry before I even got back to the yard. They were using uncalibrated equipment...

Says it all really. The whole fukking shebang is a shambles.

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Smokebelching,CO2 making,child murdering planet raping,granny mugging,politically incorrect globally warming (or is it climate changing now it's getting colder?)thug.
That's what the government want you to believe of me. If they get back in I'm emigrating.

http://direct.gov.uk/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/Mot/fs/en, "Your MOT certificate

Details of why you need an MOT certificate and how to replace the certificate" says that "Police officers are also entitled to ask for production of an MOT test certificate for a vehicle which is required to have one.", so i suppose that parked on the road ,one could be asked for.Only other bit of info talks about "using" the vehicle on the road.Is that the same as parking it on the road ??

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on