Issues with tyres and brakes are the source of the ‘most serious’ MOT failures, according to new data.

Though problems with lights, reflectors and indicators are the most common reasons that cars fail their MOT, it is issues with tyres and brakes that are most likely to lead to ‘more serious’ failures, DVSA data analysed by the RAC has shown.

Failures for issues with headlights, indicators and reflectors accounted for just over a quarter of all MOT failures in the 12 months to March 2022, with faulty or broken suspension behind just under a fifth of failures.

Problems with brakes and tyres were the third and fourth most-common reasons for failure respectively, while ‘bad visibility’ – cracks or splits in a windscreen – finished out the top five.

The data also showed that a third of all initial MOT tests of cars, vans and small passenger vehicles resulted in a fail – equivalent to 7.3m vehicles – nearly one-in-10 was attributed to a failed test where at least one dangerous fault had been uncovered.

In these instances, a tester cannot allow the car to be driven until the issue has been resolved. Brakes and tyres represented 88 per cent of these failures, with the proportion of tyre failures increasing slightly over the years from 10 per cent in 2018-19 to 12 per cent in 2021-22.

RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said: “Many drivers dread taking their vehicle for its annual MOT for fear they could end up having to spend lots of money on repairs in order to get it to pass. This is no doubt the case for an unlucky third of owners whose vehicles fail their MOTs initially.

“Drivers should never ignore dashboard warning lights as they could end up putting themselves or others at risk and costing themselves a lot of money with a bigger repair bill than necessary had they acted straight away. Additionally, routine servicing helps reduce the chance of a vehicle failing its MOT as it includes a host of important basic checks.”

All cars require an annual MOT three years after registration and each year after that.

Government funding for maintaining England’s motorways and major A roads was 31 times higher per mile than for repairing local roads last year, according to new figures.

The Local Government Association (LGA), which conducted the analysis, urged the Treasury to use next week’s Budget to provide more money to councils to fix their pothole-plagued roads.

It said that Government-owned company National Highways spent £192,000 per mile on maintaining its network of motorways and major A roads last year.

That is compared with councils receiving just £6,000 per mile for fixing potholes on local roads.

LGA transport spokesman David Renard said: “All journeys by car begin and end on local roads, which make up the vast majority of our road network.

“Spending more on improving our motorways whilst neglecting crumbling local roads is counterproductive.

“Despite the efforts of councils, which repair a pothole every 19 seconds, our local road repair backlog is rising, with latest estimates showing it would take over £12 billion and nine years to clear.

“This coupled with soaring inflation is making it increasingly harder for councils to keep our roads in good condition.

“The Government should use the spring Budget to give councils the funding they need to fix potholes and improve road surfaces for everyone that uses them.”

A ‘worrying’ number of drivers have had their vehicle tax Direct Debits cancelled by the DVLA after payments couldn’t be taken due to lack of funds, the RAC has revealed.

Figures analysed by the RAC following a Freedom of Information request show that 950,377 drivers had their direct debits cancelled in the financial year 2021-23, representing an increase of nine per cent 2020-21’s figure of 862,529. It’s less than the 1.1m cancelled in 2019-20, however.

That said, the RAC finds it ‘concerning’ that between April and December 2022, nearly three-quarters of a million had their direct debits cancelled. If this trajectory continues to April, it could see an even bigger total than 2019-20’s financial year.

At present, a missed payment or unpaid direct debit will see the DVLA contact the vehicle owner to let them know that another direct debit payment will be attempted on a specified date. If this one then fails to go through, the process is cancelled and the owner will be informed that their vehicle is currently not taxed. A lack of action after this would lead to the DVLA taking enforcement action.

RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said: “Spreading payments helps people budget when paying vehicle tax, so it’s very worrying that some are now struggling to do this.

“With recent RAC research revealing a worrying trend of drivers putting off repairs and cutting back on vehicle servicing because of household budget pressures, we are concerned the increase in the number of cancelled DVLA direct debits is part of a bigger picture of people struggling with the running costs of a vehicle.”

Drivers have paid ‘overwhelmingly’ via direct debit this financial year with 86 per cent opting for this method. Just one-in-10 pay annually, with less than four per cent paying every six months.

Two-thirds of motorists are cutting back on their vehicle usage as a way to reduce fuel bills, a new survey has discovered.

Nearly half the respondents are also driving more economically to use less fuel, while over a quarter are putting off cosmetic repairs to their vehicles. Some 27.4 per cent are also cleaning their vehicles less to save extra money.

Jessica Potts, head of marketing at BookMyGarage, which conducted the survey of 2,113 motorists, said: “The impact of the financial situation in the UK is making itself felt when it comes to expenditure on car running and maintenance costs.

“For millions of families, fuel bills are a significant part of the monthly budget, and when petrol and diesel prices are still so high, cutting usage can make a real difference.

“Reducing annual mileage by just 10 per cent – or 1,000 miles – could save hundreds of pounds in fuel bills. We understand the strain many are under and while cutting fuel bills is a money saver, we wouldn’t recommend cutting corners on car maintenance as it can lead to bigger bills in the long term.”

A recent survey also conducted by BookMyGarage found that one-in-three motorists are choosing to delay or skip servicing their vehicle in the next 12 months due to ‘increasing financial pressures’ while almost half said that they were shopping around to help save money on their car maintenance costs.

A campaign has been launched aimed at reducing the number of young male drivers killed on rural roads.

The Department for Transport (DfT) said its new Think! initiative encourages young motorists to slow down by asking them to consider “Is pushing it worth it?”.

The campaign highlights that speeding leaves 54 young people dead or injured every week in the UK.

Casualty figures show male drivers aged 17-24 are four times more likely to be killed or seriously injured than drivers aged 25 or over.

Three out of five crashes in which young male car drivers die or suffer a serious injury, happen on rural roads.

Road safety minister Richard Holden said: “Road safety is our priority, but we want to accelerate our efforts to tackle unsafe driving habits and create some of the safest roads in the world.

“We’re highlighting the dangers of relaxed driving attitudes on rural roads so that everyone recognises that pushing the speed limit is just not worth it.”

Think! research shows young men underestimate the risks of driving just a few miles per hour over the appropriate speed for the road conditions.

Dr Gemma Briggs, professor of applied cognitive psychology at the Open University, said most drivers consider themselves to have “better than average” skills behind the wheel so can “handle a bit of extra speed”, but young people have the “added problem of a lack of driving experience”.

She added: “They can’t rely on their previous experience to understand driving situations, so adding other elements to this, such as additional speed, increases the likelihood of young drivers failing to notice hazards and being involved in a collision.”

RAC road safety spokesman Simon Williams said: “We know speeding presents a clear and present road safety danger, particularly on country roads where the number of collisions is much greater.

“We also know that far too many young people are injured or killed every year in car accidents, so hopefully this campaign can bring about some much-needed behavioural change among the nation’s least experienced drivers which helps to keep everyone safe on our rural roads.”

A final vote on the EU’s plan to ban the sale of all new petrol and diesel cars by 2035 has been put on hold after it risked being blocked by opposition from governments in Germany and Italy.

While approved by the European Parliament on February 14, the vote still has to go to the European Council. Though due to take place on March 7, this has now been postponed to a ‘later council meeting’ in ‘due time’, after it’s believed it would not receive enough of a qualified majority to get the go-ahead. The postponement was confirmed by a spokesperson of Sweden, who holds the current presidency of the Council of the EU.

It is very rare for attempts to block or alter EU policy to be made so far into the lawmaking process.

Fierce opposition has come from the Italian Government, which has said it will ‘firmly oppose’ the law unless the EU commission ‘revises its position and propose environmentally sustainable alternatives’. That’s according to the European Council for Motor Trades and Repairs (CECRA), which has said that the ‘debate on the end date for combustion engines is not closed’.

In a statement released on February 28, Italy’s Energy Minster Gilberto Pinchetto Fratin said: “Italy believes that the choice of electric should not be the only way to achieve zero emissions in the transition phase.”

Following the Italian Government’s positioning, the German Government has also said it would reject the measures unless the use of manmade e-fuels was included in the proposals. These e-Fuels are synthetic and don’t require the use of any fossil fuels. German manufacturer Porsche has already set up an e-Fuel plant in Chile as it hopes it will continue to be able to fuel combustion cars in the future with this ‘nearly carbon-neutral alternative’.

The EU ban states that from 2035, all new cars ‘cannot emit CO2’, which essentially means everything but electric cars will be banned. It’s the same deadline as that of the UK, though in Britain there is a 2030 deadline on petrol and diesel cars that don’t feature a hybrid element.

The cost of both petrol and diesel fell for the fourth consecutive month in February, yet drivers requiring diesel continue to be overcharged at the pump, according to new data.

The price of an average litre of unleaded dropped by another penny to 147.2p, according to data from RAC Fuel Watch, while diesel fell by 3.19p to 167.9p. As a result, the cost of filling up an average-size 55-litre family car with petrol is now £81.25, down from £81.94 a month earlier.

Diesel, meanwhile, dropped by 3.19p to 167.19p, making the cost of filling up a diesel family car £91.95, down from £93.71 at the start of the month.

However, analysis of wholesale prices by the RAC shows that diesel drivers are being ‘needlessly’ overcharged at the pumps. Despite just a six-pence difference between the wholesale costs of petrol and diesel, diesel pump prices are currently 20p more than petrol.

The RAC states that this means drivers of diesel cars are paying around £7 more per tank than if the fuel was being sold at a ‘fairer’ price of around 155p a litre.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “A reduction in pump prices would normally be extremely welcome news for drivers, not least in a cost-of-living crisis that is making the price of so many everyday items and services much more expensive than normal.

“But while our analysis shows drivers of petrol cars are paying a fair price at the pumps, the same sadly can’t be said for anyone whose vehicle runs on diesel.”

The RAC says that drivers face a ‘pump price shock’ in less than two weeks unless the Chancellor retains the 5p duty cut which was put in place a year ago and cancels the annual planned hike at the Spring Budget on March 15.

Williams added: “To decide to raise prices by 5p on both fuels would prove punishing to households and businesses struggling to make ends meet, and may have a detrimental effect on both inflation – which the Government is desperate to bring down – and the wider economy.

“In the case of diesel, it would also mean the UK has the highest fuel duty rate in the whole of Europe.”

A driver was caught by police using just his elbow to steer a car transporter on a busy motorway.

National Highways released footage of the incident on the M40 near Gaydon in Warwickshire.

The Government-owned company responsible for England’s motorways and major A roads said the driver was initially “oblivious” to the police officers filming him as they drove alongside his car-carrying vehicle in an unmarked HGV cab.

The driver quickly put his hands on the wheel when the officers caught his attention.

He was then pulled over by a police car travelling behind.

This was one of three incidents from which footage was released showing distracted driving in late January and early February.

A man was filmed texting on a mobile phone and not wearing a seatbelt while driving a horsebox on the A46 Coventry Eastern Bypass.

In another example, a woman was caught participating in a video call while holding a mobile phone as she drove along the M40 near Junction 16 for Lapworth, Warwickshire.

National Highways said more than 33,000 offences have been recorded since it launched Operation Tramline in 2015.

The initiative involves police officers being deployed in HGV cabs so they can film drivers from an elevated position.

The most common offences are not wearing a seatbelt (9,962) and illegal use of a mobile phone (8,368), followed by 2,257 incidents of drivers not being in proper control of their vehicle.

Consequences for drivers range from warnings to fixed penalty notices, court summons or arrests.

National Highways head of road safety Jeremy Phillips said: “We are committed to reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured while travelling on our roads by 50% by 2025 and we have a long-term ambition for zero harm.

“To achieve that we need to tackle the unsafe driving behaviour that we sadly still encounter.

“Hundreds of thousands of drivers use our roads every day and the vast majority are sensible behind the wheel, but some are putting themselves and others at risk.

“Through this week of action we want to encourage motorists to think about their driving and to adopt safer behaviours.

“But those who continue to pose a risk should be aware that we are working with our police partners to make sure they are spotted and prevented from causing serious harm to themselves or others.”

Officers from eight forces will patrol the M1 between London and Leeds in unmarked HGV cabs next week.

National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for roads policing operations Commander Kyle Gordon said: “We are pleased to be working with our key partner National Highways once again as we work to reduce the danger caused on one of our busiest roads, and beyond, by drivers who allow themselves to be distracted while driving.

“Too many people are killed or seriously injured on our roads every year.

“My officers have to visit the families of those killed on our roads five times a day, every day of the week.

“I am very happy to support all initiatives that can help reduce these numbers.”

Department for Transport figures show 67 people were killed and a further 686 were seriously injured in crashes on Britain’s roads in 2021 when a distraction within a vehicle was a contributory factor.