MOT Rethink Required for Road Safety. The Status Quo isn't good enough!

In a week where the Department for Transport (DfT), United Kingdom finally concluded that upping new vehicles' first MOTs from 3 years to 4, or even 5, is a bad idea, I'm still left wondering if the Status Quo is any better.

While mechanical reliability improves yearly, drivers' apathy towards performing regular tyre health checks doesn't. In fact, some stats show it getting worse.

1). Stats from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) show that the most likely reason for a vehicle up to six years of age to fail its MOT is its tyres.

2). Independent research by Tyre Safe (Charity registration 1168354) shows that, on average, 1 in 4 vehicles have an illegal tyre on UK roads today. Over 10 million tyres are inches from death every day.

3). A recent Bridgestone EMEA survey found that 81% of drivers admit to never checking their tyres properly or frequently.

While "only" 159 people are killed or seriously injured from defective tyres each year, actually, the real figure is several times that. In fact, directly or indirectly, it's likely to be in the 1,000s. Putting that in context, officially, there are 29,000 "KSI" (deaths or severe life-altering injuries i.e. will likely require a mobility aid) and 134,000 other injuries that warrant some kind of hospital treatment. This doesn't include those not admitted to the hospital.

How do I know this? Mass Under-Reporting

The DVSA stats, in essence, rely on Traffic Police ticking the correct boxes on pre-defined check-lists. Unfortunately, that often fails to recognise the underlying root cause.

• The AA , RAC and National Highways stats show that 1 in 5 vehicles that breakdown on trunk roads are tyre-related.
• 1 in 5 deaths/injuries on trunk roads/motorways are pedestrians. I.e. those broken down at the roadside or the emergency response teams there to help them.
• 58% of replaced tyres are already illegal or borderline (TyreSafe).
• Most drivers are unaware that as a tyre ages from new (7/8mm) to even borderline legal (2mm) the stopping distance of tyres gradually increases. How much you ask? In "perfect" conditions, it's as much as 1.5 double-decker bus lengths... and that's at 30 MPH.
• Due to the above, extrapolating the DVSA data further shows that 63% of all accidents in the wet are likely to be tyre tread depth related.
• While police often know about all deaths, other traumas are underreported. DVSA direct quote, "hospital, survey and compensation claims data all indicate a higher number of casualties than those recorded in police collision data"

Solution: MOT Light

1). An outright ban on Part Worn or Used Tyres . If you need to know why read these two linked articles.

But in short, let me give you an analogy. It seems simple to say, but tyres are the only contact point between you and the road. However, the surface area of each tyre in contact with the road is, on average, the size of a human hand. The margin of error is less than people think.

If I were going into the hospital for surgery, I'd expect the surgeon to put on a fresh pair of gloves/gown and ensure everything was hygienically clean. I wouldn't expect him to be re-using vital safety equipment he'd found at a back street dealer who dug Victorian-era safety equipment out a skip, with little to no regard for safety documentation.

A small spot check on part-worn retailers last month by the DVSA showed that less than 20% of tyres were being sold legally. Other larger studies by TyreSafe have this as low as 1%. Hence, the appalling ongoing levels of non-compliance and the dangerous condition of many of these tyres don't warrant the risk to pedestrians, cyclists and drivers the small sector of tyre retailing part-worn tyres represents.

2). A 20-min Mini Mot/MOT-Light for vehicles under 4 years old, conducted every year, with a capped cost to motorists of ￡40. Less than ￡1 per week.

Humans are naturally lazy, and there isn't anything more boring for most than their tyre health. An industry leader I was talking to recently summed this up in one word... Apathy. As the stats above show, it's so bad that, unfortunately, only legislation can really fix this. A visual inspection of tyres, wheels, seat belts and lights can be done faster than a full MoT, which I'd suggest now becomes mandatory at 4 years and yearly thereafter at a max cost of ￡65 for cars (up from the current max of ￡54.85 which doesn't reflect current labour rates).

Benefits:

1. Reducing deaths and severe injury of drivers, their passengers, and the pedestrians and cyclists that share our roads. If ￡1 per week is all it takes to stop vehicles just 1 meter sooner, how many of those 29,000 lives are we going to prevent from trauma?
2. Reduction in insurance. With recent estimates of insurance premiums climbing by as much as 25% yoy, safer tyre health with vehicles capable of stopping sooner can only mean one thing. Fewer accidents mean decreased costs for insurers. And in a fair and equitable market, that should lead to lower insurance costs. Likely more than offsetting the ￡40 per year "Mini Mot" for years 1-4.
3. Alleviate needless pressure on the NHS and social work system. A minimum of 136,000 injuries, and a further 29,000 KSI's needing life-altering care/death. Those 29k compound year on year due to aftercare or lifelong care requirements. With 32 million vehicles on UK roads, less than ￡1 per week starts to look like a relatively cheap mitigation of A&E admissions and needless trauma for victims and their families - all without the Gov spending a single penny.

Conclusion

Is this solution perfect? No. Generally, I'm not a fan of rules and compulsory things mandated by governments. Despite decades of great work by the Police, and organisations like TyreSafe, unfortunately, the Status Quo still isn't good enough. It's time to act and lead the world in this vital, overlooked, and under-reported area.