NFDA NI responds to call for evidence into biennial MOT testing

Proposals to carry out MOT tests every two years in Northern Ireland were put forward in a consultation by the Department for Infrastructure earlier this year. The National Franchised Dealers Association Northern Ireland division (NFDA NI) has responded to the NI Governments Call for Evidence.

The Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) claims that the UK government’s recent announcement of a ban on the sale of new diesel and petrol vehicles by 2030 combined with biennial testing, if introduced, would help to address testing capacity issues.

The change would remove approximately 240,000 (24%) of cars and light goods vehicles from the vehicle testing regime in Northern Ireland each year, out of a current annual total of around 1,000,000.

Sue Robinson, NFDA NI Chief Executive comments, “ Moving to biennial testing is not the correct solution to the issues currently facing the NI Testing Scheme. It very much appears that this Call for Evidence has been proposed due to the Covid testing backlog and the existing capacity in the system being unable to cope.

“NFDA NI believes the importance of road safety should be the primary concern and other avenues should be sought to ensure that testing can be carried out effectively whilst maintaining the current testing periodicity. A capacity issue should not be remedied at the expense of road safety.

“The move to biennial testing will undoubtedly increase defects in vehicles, cause harm to established motor repairers and local communities. We would urge NI Government to seriously rethink these proposals and take our concerns into account”.