Are you fit for the road?

[Non-Believer]

10 minutes ago, Max Power said:

The RMIF tried to suggest this in the 90s, and fund test equipment for certain local garages. The government's own off island motor vehicle advisor was involved and in favour. You can imagine the response from the head vehicle tester at the time, and it was his opinion that prevailed. 

You may recall the death of a young cyclist in 2005 when the wheel came off a truck due to worn studs. Something which would have been picked up with an annual test. The cries at the time for HGV testing took 14 years to come to fruition. 

Despite annual testing being in place for taxis and HGVs, there are still a good number of test failures on safety items. These vehicles are meant to be checked daily and serviced regularly between tests. For all those ordinary drivers who say 'I maintain my vehicle properly, why should we introduce testing' there are a lot of people who don't. and don't even check their tyre pressures or tyre wear.   

It's been going on since before then, I was in the local motor trade in the late 70s and early 80s and there was talk and debate about the introduction of an MOT back then on many occasions. It even reached Tynwald on one occasion where additional concerns about the impact on the population's finances were cited and even won the day. I can remember a haulage operator on the Mannin Line saying that if testing was brought in for wagons then he was going to close his business. What that said for his vehicles is another matter.

A few things were different then too though. The Island was a much poorer place then and the condition of cars was generally much worse than today on account of that too, there were utter wrecks and rotboxes on the roads.

But nor did the Island's Govt have billions in debt and liability then.

It will be a whole different debate if it comes up again now.

[Happier diner]

2 hours ago, WTF said:

plenty of diesels chuck out black smoke when you put your foot down.

For the MOT pre emission check vehicles. That's what it says. It's a bit subjective. Basically checking for sticking injectors, worn valve stem oil seals etc. . They have to be real smokey to fail. 

All pre DPF diesels smoke a bit on acceleration. Shouldn't be James Bond levels though. There are lots on the island that are. 

[A fool and his money.....]

1 hour ago, Max Power said:

 

You may recall the death of a young cyclist in 2005 when the wheel came off a truck due to worn studs. Something which would have been picked up with an annual test. The cries at the time for HGV testing took 14 years to come to fruition. 

Absolute bollocks. HGV's were subject to annual testing at the time of the accident and had been for ages.

That's the only fatal accident I can ever remember being caused by a defective vehicle and it was one which was subject to an annual test anyway.

I can remember several caused by defective driving, surely it makes much more sense to test drivers annually rather than vehicles.

Edited March 2 by A fool and his money.....

[Max Power]

25 minutes ago, A fool and his money..... said:

Absolute bollocks. HGV's were subject to annual testing at the time of the accident and had been for ages.

That's the only fatal accident I can ever remember being caused by a defective vehicle and it was one which was subject to an annual test anyway.

I can remember several caused by defective driving, surely it makes much more sense to test drivers annually rather than vehicles.

Sorry, I meant regulation rather than testing. The vehicle must have a pass certificate to get an operators disc and failures are monitored. They must also have maintenance records and daily checks recorded.  

[finlo]

If I remember correctly the wheel that came off the HGV that killed the cyclist had only been fitted less than an hour before it came off.

[HelmutX]

What we need are bobbies at Brandywell and then down at Windy Corner - pulling \ALL cnts who ain't got lights on in the f'ing fog!! Especially those f-off Range Rover cnts. £250 minimum and 6 months!

[x-in-man]

1 hour ago, HelmutX said:

What we need are bobbies at Brandywell and then down at Windy Corner - pulling \ALL cnts who ain't got lights on in the f'ing fog!! Especially those f-off Range Rover cnts. £250 minimum and 6 months!

Stop them at the bungalow. If a bulb is out bus them into Onchan to find a new bulb.  They then have to make their own way back, fit it and get the all clear from a copper before it can be moved again.  Not done by the end of the day - £250 storage fee for leaving an un-roadworthy vehicle on the road.  Rising by £250 every night until the fee is £1000.  Then recovered and sold on or scrapped.  

[Max Power]

1 hour ago, finlo said:

If I remember correctly the wheel that came off the HGV that killed the cyclist had only been fitted less than an hour before it came off.

Something like that, but the whole regime and thinking at the time was wrong. There didn't seem to be any recognition that fitting a wheel to worn out fixings was in any way illegal.

[HelmutX]

2 hours ago, x-in-man said:

Stop them at the bungalow. If a bulb is out bus them into Onchan to find a new bulb.  They then have to make their own way back, fit it and get the all clear from a copper before it can be moved again.  Not done by the end of the day - £250 storage fee for leaving an un-roadworthy vehicle on the road.  Rising by £250 every night until the fee is £1000.  Then recovered and sold on or scrapped.  

That's not what I'm saying.... people deliberately drive over Mountain in pea soup fog WITHOUT lights..... deliberately! Not that there is a bub out, but deliberately no lights.

[Omobono]

Makes you wonder why government (DOI) have just spent millions constructing a new vehicle test centre when they dont appear to be able to fully staff it , motor trade and motorists and waiting ages  for vehicle and driving tests ,

some Manx drivers  are only  clocking up 5000 miles a year ,if we are going to have vehicle testing  then lets link it to an annual service   and safety check that can be carried out by an approved  garage , instead of involving the sprawling waste from the dead hand of government 

[Fred the shred]

I was always warned against carrying documents in the car such as log book etc as if the vehicle was stolen it would be easier to sell on.

[doc.fixit]

4 hours ago, x-in-man said:

Stop them at the bungalow. If a bulb is out bus them into Onchan to find a new bulb.  They then have to make their own way back, fit it and get the all clear from a copper before it can be moved again.  Not done by the end of the day - £250 storage fee for leaving an un-roadworthy vehicle on the road.  Rising by £250 every night until the fee is £1000.  Then recovered and sold on or scrapped.  

have you tried to get an LED rear light for a quashqai for instance?

[Happier diner]

2 hours ago, HelmutX said:

That's not what I'm saying.... people deliberately drive over Mountain in pea soup fog WITHOUT lights..... deliberately! Not that there is a bub out, but deliberately no lights.

What is their motivation for doing this?

[Non-Believer]

4 minutes ago, Happier diner said:

What is their motivation for doing this?

I see it virtually every day.

Their motivation? Inadequate driver training, a rushed driver testing procedure, lack of spacial awareness. A Police campaign a couple of years ago elicited that some drivers didn't even know where their foglight switch was, for instance.

[Happier diner]

3 hours ago, Non-Believer said:

I see it virtually every day.

Their motivation? Inadequate driver training, a rushed driver testing procedure, lack of spacial awareness. A Police campaign a couple of years ago elicited that some drivers didn't even know where their foglight switch was, for instance.

I didn't say it didn't happen. You said deliberate though, sounds more like ignorance to me.