What Causes an MOT Fail? Steer Clear of These Car Accessories
Car modifications and accessories can be a great way to make the driving experience more personal and fun, especially over the drab winter months. However, these could make you run into trouble when it comes to your car’s annual check. Whether you’re already a car owner, or looking to buy, here’s some guidance to ensure your car accessories fit within current MOT guidelines.
Window Stickers
Window stickers have been around for almost as long as car windows themselves. They’re a fun way to personalise your vehicle, while also notifying other drives of important information. For example, you may have a child on board. It benefits the drivers around you to know this, so that they can amend their driving style accordingly and be more considerate.
Personalised stickers are a trend that many enjoy, but equally aren’t aware of the legal limitations. UK Government standards suggest that “drivers windscreens must always be kept clear from obstructions that interfere with vision”. Having stickers that are too large or incorrectly placed – no matter how festive – could lead to significant fines if caught on the road and may lead to MOT failures too.
Adapted Car Horns
As part of the MOT process, surveyors will check to ensure that a car’s horn is fully functional and appropriate for road use. While it might be in the festive spirit to blast out jingle bells from your car instead of the classic honk, UK road restrictions state that car horns must actually follow surprisingly strict rules.
According to The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, “No motor vehicle shall be fitted with a bell, gong, siren, or two-tone horn.” This means that while car horn adaption is legal in the UK, the options are strictly limited. Car horns must sound like what they are – car horns – so as to be easily recognisable by other drivers. So, while it might be fun to change your car horn to replicate the sound of Santa’s sleigh, you likely won’t pass your MOT for it.
Rear-view Mirror Hangers
Often, the first thing that new drivers purchase after passing their driving test, is a novelty hanging accessory to dangle from the rear window mirror. These small personalisations have been around for decades and, though the styles have changes, they have always been consistently popular. There are however, increasing reports of MOTs being failed due to these accessories in recent years, after concerns appeared in the driving community about whether these hangers block drivers’ visions or cause unsafe distractions.
While car mirror hangers are not illegal in the UK, many MOT providers will take their size and shape into consideration when conducting tests. Major vision blockages are considered a sufficient reason to fail an MOT.
Colourful lights
While car light alterations are legal in the UK, there are strict limitations on how you can modify your car in this way. Blue, red and green lights (bar red brake lights) are strictly prohibited and only allowed on emergency vehicles. Furthermore, flashing, or rotating lights are also not permitted. Neon underglow lights can be fitted, along with a new interior lighting system as long as they fit within the highway code limitations. So, while it might look great to light up your car in the festive spirit, your MOT tester may not take it so light-ly (pun intended).
Loud Subwoofers
As with most things on this list, Subwoofers and amplifiers aren’t illegal in the UK and are a permitted modification in most vehicles. However, if a car’s sound system causes noise loud enough to cause ‘alarm, distress or annoyance’ to the general public, it’s legally considered enough reason for the police to seize your car, or even to make you fail its MOT. If you like your music loud, it might be best to install your next mega-sound system into your home, rather than your car.
Summary
Driving is more than just a means of transportation to many. People love driving because it represents freedom. It can be a chance to unwind, be in our own space and refocus. However, there are many responsibilities that come with being a driver – one of them being MOTs.
“There’s something ironically primordial about the juxtaposition of man and machine – even more so when you mix horsepower with high-tech gadgets and features” say the experts. But it’s those gadgets that could cause trouble when you get your next MOT.
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