More than three-quarters of motorists feel confident about taking their car to a garage for an MOT during the Covid-19 pandemic. That’s thanks to safety measures that garages have put in place, results from a new survey suggest.
According to a poll conducted by The Motor Ombudsman, 81 percent of drivers would be comfortable taking their car to a garage for its annual inspection.
Male drivers (85 percent) are more at ease than females (76 percent) about the prospect of visiting a garage, while 12 percent of motorists would feel nervous and just four percent said they would opt for a collection service instead.
The research was conducted a year on from the MOT extension introduced by the government in response to the coronavirus pandemic, which allowed motorists to postpone the due-date of their vehicle’s compulsory annual assessment by six months if they had a test expiring between 30 March and 31 July 2020.
During that period, 10 million MOT test exemptions were issued. Despite the volume of postponements, the majority of drivers (89 percent) said they still knew the expiry date of their vehicle’s annual certificate, an unexpected positive result from the extension.
Most drivers know when their MOT expires
The findings also revealed that awareness of the deadline was consistently high across all age groups and regions in the country (equating to an average of 89 percent), while the study highlighted that only around one in 10 drivers (11 percent) were unable to recall the expiry date of their car’s MOT.
“With the six-month extension changing the natural rhythm of when people would have traditionally got their MOT done, it is encouraging to see that such an important annual assessment remains at the forefront of people’s minds and a key date in the diary for so many,” said Bill Fennell, chief ombudsman and managing director of The Motor Ombudsman.
“Nevertheless, when our lives do return to some degree of normality in the coming months as lockdown restrictions are lifted, it’s still advisable for motorists to sign up for free MOT reminders and have their car’s documentation readily available to jog their memory if needed, so that they can make a booking ahead of time.
“The annual test is such a critical part of vehicle maintenance and staying safe and legal when at the wheel, so it really is a date that can’t be left to chance.”
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