Motor Vehicles (Tests) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020

Earl of Erroll Excerpts

Wednesday 13th May 2020 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Erroll (CB)]

My Lords, I agree that this is a very practical and sensible relaxation of the rules, which will help keep people able to work as the lockdown is eased. Without it, there would have been more hardship than we would have wished, probably among the less well off, who are less able to afford newer vehicles.

However, as others have said, safety is extremely important and it may be worth the Government putting out messages on public television or whatever about what defects would certainly be prosecuted by the police if you get stopped. Exemption from an MoT does not mean that you are allowed to drive a dangerous car. For instance, damaged tyres are critical. I have noticed very occasionally that the inside wall of the tyre may be damaged, and that gets picked up only at the MoT because not many of us like crawling under our car regularly just to check. If it has not been serviced for a while, it can go unnoticed.

Brake pads are important; yes, lights can come up on the dashboard, but I am not sure that everyone understands them. However, if the noise should alert people, maybe these messages should be put out publicly. Wiper blades, as mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord Rennard, are very important in bad weather —or even in good weather when your windscreen gets clogged up with flies and you have to use the windscreen washers. Some basic messages on things such as that should be promulgated, because we do not want unsafe cars on the road.

I am not sure what exactly qualifies as essential services, but garages and small car servicing shops should be treated as essential. The people who sell the parts and things that we need should also be treated as essential; I think that they already are.

If one wants an MoT before the new deadline—this may be a very good way of getting a car checked anyway—presumably that journey would be regarded as important enough to qualify under the rules for essential journeys or for getting to work. It would be useful to have that clarification.

I also hope that it will be possible for the DVLA to send out reminders to vehicle owners when the new deadline for their car is due because a lot of people will have the wrong date in their reminders and diaries.