Re: MoT

[Jaap Bouma <j.h.bouma@domain.elided>]

>Depends on your point of view!  MoT stands for, I think, Ministry of
Transport,
>and it is a roadworthiness test administered by said government dept.
Your car
>had to be tested annually at an approved test station after it is 3 years
old.
> The problem is the approved test stations are frequently also repair shops,
>with a vested interest in finding things to fail you for.
<SNIP>
>The idea behind the test is a good one, since it prevents the
preponderance of
>poorly maintained and dangerous cars seen on the roads in some parts of
the US.
> However, as you can see, the execution is flawed due to the opportunity for
>corruption.  For every shop that fails you to get work, there is probably
>another one which will look the other way for a few bucks and pass a
dangerous
>car.  Of course, they can get in trouble for this, but don't forget the UK
does
<SNIP>
>This is how things stood when I left the UK.  I would be interested to hear
>updates from current UK residents, such as whether the rumoured smog check
was
>ever added.  Regards,

We have a similar test inthe Netherlands, but the test stations have to
register every test result with a government body through a computer
network. A percentage of the approved cars are picked at random by the
computer system, and these have to remain at the station until a government
inspector has verified that the car does indeed comply with all the
regulations. This way, the testing stations are discouraged from passing
unroadworthy cars.
And yes, we do have (in the Netherlands and in the UK) smog tests. Not as
rigorous as some US states I think, but close.
Met vriendelijke groeten, regards
Dr.Ir. J.H. Bouma  <j.h.bouma@domain.elided>
University of Twente, Dept. of Energy Technology
tel.: (0)53 - 489 40 98
fax: (0)53 - 489 36 63

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