Tom Williams
I suppose I could act as the Devil's Advocate here. I've been an MoT tester for almost 40 yrs, though I actually started shaking the wheels as my father's assistant around 1967.
I think that sadly, there is a lot of truth in the article. The fact is, that cars are much better made and more reliable. You really don't see the death traps of 20-30 yrs ago.
When I first started testing I can remember cars that were so corroded they couldn't be jacked up! We used to recover vehicles on an almost daily basis with collapsed suspension. Triumph Heralds, Minor 1000s and BLMC front wheel drive vehicles being the favourites. Total loss of braking from corroded pipes bursting or single circuit master cylinder failure wasn't unusual then, but rare these days.
I suppose I've tested in excess of 25,000 cars. These days I see very few truly dangerous defects in comparison to the early days.
Tyres are one of the few items that we still consistently see in a dangerous state of neglect.
Remember also that non-safety related items like emissions and no.plates take up part of the
test.
Maybe the 4-2-2 advocates have a point.
Virtually all traffic accidents are caused by bad driving or lack of attention.
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