Furry dice highlight MoT chaos

By David Wrottesley

17th January 2009

Dozy MoT testers are failing roadworthy cars for crazy reasons – like having furry dice hanging in them! Yet they are passing vehicles with dangerous faults such as batteries leaking acid.

The rules of the annual roadworthiness test say cars should fail if they have a visual obstruction in the windscreen larger than 10mm by 10mm. But Jim Punter, chairman of the MoT Testing Forum, told us examiners have refused to pass vehicles with furry dice and sat-nav suction cups in the screen as a result.

“Commonsense dictates testers should tell owners to remove the dice, or do it themselves!” he said. “I know one examiner was disciplined by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) as he failed a car with mini boxing gloves hanging from the rear view mirror.”

Reader Adam Pearce of Whitehill, Hants, also fell foul of testers’ incompetence (see Troubleshooter, Page 50). His MINI was one of several to fail as examiners thought the white LED sidelights looked blue – even though VOSA has confirmed that they’re road legal.

Meanwhile, Punter claimed that cars with dangerous mechanical issues got an MoT: “I’ve heard of vehicles passing even if leaking battery acid has burned through the tray, causing a fire hazard, as batteries aren’t checked,” he said.

In fact, while modern cars have a growing number of safety features, only 150 are checked during the annual test. In 2007-08, 1,321 customers complained or appealed about their MoT, while 445 testers were warned and 108 disqualified by VOSA.

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