Do head rests have to fitted for an MOT?

[Yellow Lizud]

A friend of mine has just had his car (an old Mk1 Focus) fail an MOT for not having head rests fitted, although it has passed for the last 10 years without them.

I have had a search around the interweb and as far as I can see there is no statutory requirement to have head rests fitted and there appears to no mention of them at all in the MOT inspection manual. (Or at least, not that I can find, although I may have missed it!)

So my questions are:-
Does a car need to have headrests fitted for an MOT?
How can they inspect something that isn't even there?

If there are any MOT testers out there your views would be really appreciated.

Any views on "why would you remove them", "the drivers an idiot", "it's not safe", blah, blah, etc. will be ignored. I'm only interested it from an MOT point of view.

[Caddyshack]

I would think the MOT tester would be required to point out the legislation on the basis of a fail that passed for last 10 yrs.

Edited by Caddyshack on Saturday 4th March 15:19

[Caddyshack]

I expect standard focus headrests are peanuts to find second hand. I would fit the worst ones I could find for the mot and then remove them after

[Caddyshack]

The Googling I have done seems that it would be a fail:

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, it is not legal to remove the headrests from a vehicle. It is unlikely that police would cite an individual for this infraction, as there is generally not much attention paid to it.

[Scrump]

Caddyshack said:

The Googling I have done seems that it would be a fail:

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, it is not legal to remove the headrests from a vehicle. It is unlikely that police would cite an individual for this infraction, as there is generally not much attention paid to it.

As the OP asked about an MOT test I presume they are in the UK.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation.

[Yellow Lizud]

Caddyshack said:

The Googling I have done seems that it would be a fail:

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, it is not legal to remove the headrests from a vehicle. It is unlikely that police would cite an individual for this infraction, as there is generally not much attention paid to it.

Have you got a link to that information? Especially regarding the MOT.

[agtlaw]

Caddyshack said:

The Googling I have done seems that it would be a fail:

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, it is not legal to remove the headrests from a vehicle. It is unlikely that police would cite an individual for this infraction, as there is generally not much attention paid to it.

Try google.co.uk

[Yellow Lizud]

Caddyshack said:

I expect standard focus headrests are peanuts to find second hand. I would fit the worst ones I could find for the mot and then remove them after

This is probably what will happen, but it doesn't answer the question about the MOT failure.

[Scrump]

Here is a link to the section in the MOT inspection manual which covers seats:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspection-manual-...

I cannot see any mention of head rests.

[Mabbs9]

I asked my MOT man of I needed the rear headrests back in to pass. He said no. I'd removed them to help accommodate the kids seats which have them built in. Unsure if front are any different.

[Yellow Lizud]

Scrump said:

Here is a link to the section in the MOT inspection manual which covers seats:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspection-manual-...

I cannot see any mention of head rests.

Thanks for link, I had already found that but, as you say, no mention of headrests.

From all the info that I've found there seems to be no mention of the headrests in the MOT at all. However happy to be proved wrong if someone can give me the exact reference regarding head rest failure.

[peterperkins]

You would be pretty mad to remove them for aesthetic reasons if they are fitted!
In the event of a rear end shunt it might save you from months in a neck brace or worse.

[Raccaccoonie]

peterperkins said:

You would be pretty mad to remove them for aesthetic reasons if they are fitted!
In the event of a rear end shunt it might save you from months in a neck brace or worse.

I imagine the seats are low down, the bloke drives with one hand, aka "the grip of power", and has loads of scene stuff .

[OutInTheShed]

Scrump said:

Here is a link to the section in the MOT inspection manual which covers seats:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspection-manual-...

I cannot see any mention of head rests.

Comes under 'defective structure'?

Would a seat with no headrest comply with C&U in force when the vehicle is new?
I think not.
Therefore the "seat is defective and the car is a fail" is not an unreasonable interpretation.

Has the modification been declared to insurance?

[littleredrooster]

Wouldn't it be good if we had an 'Ask an MOT Tester Anything' thread so this sort of thing could get a definitive answer...

[S6PNJ]

If it failed the MOT, wouldn't the certificate list the exact part of the MOT it failed on?

E.G.

Repair immediately (major defects):
Offside Front Steering locking device ineffective track rod end lock nut loose (2.1.3 (d))

Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories):
Nearside Front Upper Suspension arm pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement (5.3.4 (a) (i))

[Caddyshack]

OutInTheShed said:

Comes under 'defective structure'?

Would a seat with no headrest comply with C&U in force when the vehicle is new?
I think not.
Therefore the "seat is defective and the car is a fail" is not an unreasonable interpretation.

Has the modification been declared to insurance?

That makes a lot of sense.

[gareth_r]

Every time one of these threads pops up, someone has to point out that what is a legal requirement and what passes the MOT test are two different things.

On this thread, it is I.

[Yellow Lizud]

Raccaccoonie said:

peterperkins said:

You would be pretty mad to remove them for aesthetic reasons if they are fitted!
In the event of a rear end shunt it might save you from months in a neck brace or worse.

I imagine the seats are low down, the bloke drives with one hand, aka "the grip of power", and has loads of scene stuff .

Reading is not a strong point for you two then.

Try reading the last bit of the original post and shut the fk up if you have nothing constructive to say.

[matchmaker]

I had a 1975 Dolomite Sprint. The front seats had provision for head restraints (it's head restraints, not headrests, BTW), but none were fitted as standard. If I wanted them, I had to buy then from a BL dealer.