During the 1950’s it became apparent that more and more vehicles of all shapes and sizes were becoming un-roadworthy and dangerous as they clocked up more and more miles. In 1960 in order to rectify this growing problem, Ernest Marple
s who was the Minister of Transport at the time set up a system that involved all vehicles over 10 years old having some basic safety check done every year. These checks involved brakes, lights and steering. This was called the Ministry of Transport Test hence the name MOT, more generally known at the time as the Ten Year Test. By 1967 the rules were progressively changed so that vehicles over 3 years old rather than ten should have the test. As time went on, the test became more stringent checking all the safety aspects of the vehicles and the list of checks has lengthened to include emissions testing and is still getting longer. As cars become more advanced so the MOT Test becomes more sophisticated.
