The 50 millionth test MOT test has now been completed, VOSA reported yesterday. The milestone was reached at 11.44am on Wednesday 28th March by Stuart Sloan of RH Patterson & Co Ltd in Newcastle. He was testing a Ford Focus, which passed. RH Patterson & Co Ltd will receive a plaque to commemorate the achievement, which will be presented to them at 10.30am on Tuesday 24th April.

The speed at which the computerised MOT database is expanding can be measured by the fact that the first 25 million tests took 15 months to record, whereas the second only took nine months. The system was launched in 2005 in partnership with Siemens IT Solutions and Services Ltd and has been introduced to all 18,700 MOT garages throughout Great Britain at no cost to the garages themselves.

VOSA’s MOT Computerisation’s has been nominated in the Best Project – Government to Business category for the Government Computing Awards for Innovation.

Alex Fiddes, VOSA’s Private Vehicle Director, said: “More MOT tests are currently being carried out and more MOT certificates are being issued than at any time in history. Over 34m tests were conducted during the past 12 months and over 25m new style MOT certificates were issued.”

- The Retail Motor Industry Federation is currently running a campaign in defence of the UK's annual MOT test regime for vehicles over three years old; the Government is considering amending the frequency of testing.


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