Minister Proposes Significant Changes to MOT Testing in Northern Ireland

Belfast: So, here’s the scoop. Stormont’s Infrastructure Minister, John O’Dowd, is shaking things up with MOT testing. He’s suggesting that for some private cars, motorcycles, and light goods vehicles, the testing frequency could change from once a year to every two years.

The Department for Infrastructure is kicking off a 12-week consultation about this. It’s set to run until April 16, 2025. This builds on a previous call for evidence about biennial MOT testing from 2021.

Don’t worry, the first mandatory test will still be at four years for private cars and motorcycles, and three years for light goods vehicles.

By 2030, they expect around 1.2 million light vehicles and 65,000 heavy vehicles will need MOTs. If this new plan goes through, it could take about 253,000 vehicles out of the yearly testing mix. That’s a big deal!

O’Dowd mentioned that modern cars are built better and should be more reliable. He’s also introduced Temporary Exemption Certificates for certain cars.

He’s keen to hear from everyone about this consultation, especially those in the automotive industry and road safety groups.

Any changes would need to go through the Northern Ireland Assembly, and they might also look at MOT fee costs to make sure everything is covered.

Last year, they did over a million vehicle tests, which is pretty impressive. If you want to check out the consultation, you can find it on the NI Direct website.