DVSA Spot Check

[MoggieMinor]

Roofless Toothless said:

wack said:

I wish the DVLA would do giffer testing , another victim of an 80 year old in Kettering last week , pedestrianised area , guy reversing out of a disabled space takes the car and a poor guy passing through a shop window on the other side of the road

Life changing injuries to his legs , randomly stopping elderly drivers and giving them eye tests as a minimum should be happening

I'm a 'giffer', as you describe it.

My car was run into by a lad in his early twenties reversing out of a parking bay as I passed. Do you think his eyesight should be tested too?

Two examples of why parking spaces should be reversed into, not out of.

[Countdown]

rallycross said:

Thesprucegoose said:

they should be doing more to catch the dpf/cat delete knobheads.

I’d rather they targeted the morons driving around with silly amounts of tyre stretch and dangerous levels of camber/badly set up suspension more of a risk to other road users than someone having a decat fitted.

Are low profile tyres or "badly set-up suspension" illegal?

[Retroman]

rscott said:

In other words, you tell them that you don't think the vehicle could pass an MOT in it's current condition?

No, nothing like that
Try reading my responses again

[Retroman]

Countdown said:

Are low profile tyres or "badly set-up suspension" illegal?

He didn't mention low profile tyres. He mentioned stretched tyres.
Stretched tyres are almost always illegal.
As with badly set up suspension (bumper scuffs the road or tyres catch on things at full lock)

[Countdown]

Retroman said:

Countdown said:

Are low profile tyres or "badly set-up suspension" illegal?

He didn't mention low profile tyres. He mentioned stretched tyres.
Stretched tyres are almost always illegal.
As with badly set up suspension (bumper scuffs the road or tyres catch on things at full lock)

Surely if they're that obviously illegal then the Police would stop them? Whereas decat cars aren't going to be as obvious to spot so somebody like the DVSA is more likely to identify them.....

[rscott]

Retroman said:

rscott said:

In other words, you tell them that you don't think the vehicle could pass an MOT in it's current condition?

No, nothing like that
Try reading my responses again

I did. If you're worried a vehicle may not survive being revved as per the requirements for an MOT, then I'd say you're worried it wouldn't get through an MOT without damage.

[GC8]

Skellum said:

Never been asked if my diesel has been serviced before an MOT.
Are you a Tester?

You should be and if you dont want it revving then you fail.

[GC8]

rscott said:

In other words, you tell them that you don't think the vehicle could pass an MOT in it's current condition?

Its a silly argumentative point and obviously not correct.

With regards to roadside inspections, the law is quite clear.

[donkmeister]

rscott said:

Retroman said:

rscott said:

In other words, you tell them that you don't think the vehicle could pass an MOT in it's current condition?

No, nothing like that
Try reading my responses again

I did. If you're worried a vehicle may not survive being revved as per the requirements for an MOT, then I'd say you're worried it wouldn't get through an MOT without damage.

Being roadworthy now and having overdue maintenance to address in the future are not incompatible factors.
It's not uncommon for people to be doing 20-25k miles/year, it's also not uncommon for people to get behind on maintenance. I've known people drive around with timing belts more than 20k miles beyond their scheduled replacement.
So, it's quite conceivable that there is a significant number of diesels being nursed around with the driver hoping to get away with another month before he gets the major service done before the MOT.
That chap is not driving a road-unworthy vehicle, but would also not put that vehicle forward for MOT in its current state.

[GC8]

Road Traffic Act 1988 Section 67.

[GC8]

echazfraz said:

As far as I'm aware/ can remember to do this they would have police support to stop non-commercial vehicles as they don't have powers to stop non-commercial vehicles.

And if there's red diesel checks being done then that would be by HMRC and not DVSA.

It has however been a few years since I was there so happy to be corrected on the above.

They might test the fuel and then bring C&E in. Ive seen a number of fly on the wall police programmes where the traffic officers have taken it upon themselves the poke things into peoples fuel tanks, despite it not being their remit,

[Retroman]

rscott said:

I did. If you're worried a vehicle may not survive being revved as per the requirements for an MOT, then I'd say you're worried it wouldn't get through an MOT without damage.

Well, here's how it works currently.
You go to an MOT station, with your diesel. They ask you when the timing belt etc was last done. If they're not happy with the answers they will refuse to test, because if damage occurs often the courts rule in the favour of the customer in past claims. This advise on questioning customers was originally introduced by VOSA (now DVSA)

So, to pass an MOT you need to make sure your car's service schedule is up to date. You know your MOT's date, so you can ensure that when it's in for it's MOT all the belts, fluids etc are as they need to be.

However, after the MOT it's often ok to go over your service schedules ever so slightly as as long as you're granny driving about.
Most people don't rev their diesels to the maximum RPM frequently so having a more fragile engine isn't an issues as an overdue timing belt won't impact emissions

But if they replicate the modern MOT test for diesel engines, to ensure they are meeting the standard there's a chance the belt will snap, or you'll spin a bearing if the oil is old as the MOT test conditions place the engine under a stress it will never usually see until the next MOT test.

So i'm merely curious to what happens if you
1) Advise the DVSA inspector the car is roadworthy, has an up to date MOT but if he puts the engine under the extreme test conditions like the MOT with red lining it a couple of a times, the timing belt may snap as it is overdue. As garages are almost always liable for damage that occurs if they don't head that advise, where does that leave DVSA in the event they damage your engine?

2) Simply tell them, no thank you then decline to willfully participate in the roadside emissions test. What offense/s are / is committed and what powers do they have?

Edited by Retroman on Monday 19th August 17:26

[wicksy101]

Hiya Guys,

Sorry to revive an old thread however at a car show a few years ago, DVSA were stopping people along with the police. Now I was not stopped however I have seen a video of a number of cars being pulled. One of the cars was stopped for tinted windows however the owner lowered the windows and refused to put them up. The owners belief was that they are unable to operate anything in the vehicle during the top IE, putting up the windows. AFAIK he got away with this however after extensive looking, I can find no documentation on what they can and can't actually do. Any ideas on where I could find some more information?