{"id":9780,"date":"2017-04-24T16:34:11","date_gmt":"2017-04-24T16:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/?p=9780"},"modified":"2017-04-24T16:34:11","modified_gmt":"2017-04-24T16:34:11","slug":"van-hire-trade-body-calls-for-yearly-mot-tests-for-large-vans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/archives\/9780","title":{"rendered":"Van hire trade body calls for yearly MOT tests for large vans"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"BVRLA

BVRLA Chief Executive Gerry Keaney<\/p><\/div>\n

The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA)\u00a0says that evidence of poor maintenance on large vans means that yearly MOT tests should\u00a0be required.<\/p>\n

This is a topic we covered here on the\u00a0vanrental.co.uk blog back in March 2016, when we flagged up government figures\u00a0showing that 49% of vans fail their\u00a0first MOT at three years old<\/a>. Worryingly,\u00a0almost 25% of failures were the result of brake \u00a0defects. That’s a potentially dangerous problem on a heavily laden 3.5t van.<\/p>\n

The rules haven’t changed yet.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But the government has been consulting on plans to extend the MOT period for new cars to four years, up from the current three-year requirement. The BVRLA says that it supports this proposal, but does not believe it should be extended to class 7 vans (3,000kg – 3,500kg) due to safety concerns.<\/p>\n

The BVRLA’s\u00a0view, which I share, is that the date of the first MOT test for large (class 7) vans should be cut to one year after first registration, in order to address the\u00a0potential safety concerns resulting from the current high test failure rate.<\/p>\n

Commenting on the government\u2019s plans, BVRLA Chief Executive Gerry Keaney said:<\/p>\n

\u201cModern cars are safer than ever, and rental and leasing vehicles are typically checked, serviced and repaired on a regular basis. As such, we believe the proposed extension before the first MOT test is required can be implemented without risk to public safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, van traffic is growing, and these vehicles\u2019 average annual mileages are significantly higher than the average car on UK roads. At a time when the government\u2019s own data shows large vans have appalling first time pass rates, the BVRLA believes these vehicles should be getting tested every year, not every three or four years. Many large vans fail their first MOT because they have not been well maintained and have substandard brakes, so they pose a real risk to road safety.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The BVRLA says that it has met with the Department for Transport to discuss the proposals and intends to continue engaging with the\u00a0Department after the consultation period has ended.<\/p>\n

Trade bodies are often criticised for\u00a0lobbying for changes that will cut costs or boost growth for their members. But in this case I think the BVRLA should be applauded for focusing on safety, even though it will increase the regulatory burden for its member companies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association believes that evidence of poor maintenance means that large vans (3.0-3.5t) should require an annual MOT test from one year old, rather than from three years old as at present.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[309,2066,1904],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9780"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9780"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9785,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9780\/revisions\/9785"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}