Dear LPG, 

This is a message for the LPG readers that double as car owners…

I wrote the message I sent only the other day, but another recent experience has left me needing to say a few more words on getting your car up to speed each year.  

My children constantly remind me to keep note of my ‘driving dates,’ but I keep forgetting.   Over the past two years, on two seemingly random July mornings now, I have left my house and taken a walk to my car over the road, only to find a parking ticket on the windscreen despite having a resident parking permit.  This is how I get my annual reminder about checking the four significant ‘driving dates’ we need to know.  Once that happens, I contact one of my children, and everything gets sorted quickly.  

When I say all, the car tax letter soon follows unless you pay by direct debit, and the car insurance people go to a lot of trouble to remind you of the renewal dates, but, for us old drivers with older cars, the MOT reminders are not so forthcoming.  

Have you noticed that the process has become computerised over the past few years?  I no longer need to take my insurance certificate or proof of car tax with me on the big day because all that information is now electronic, so there is not much in the way of paperwork when you (God willing) get the news that it has passed the test. You can continue to drive for another year.

The big problem with this new system is that it is so easy to forget the exact dates when we need to do all the renewing.   There are no MOT reminder letters, and if you are stopped without a valid MOT certificate, you can be fined or get points on your licence. There is no grace period, and I learned of another reason not to forget.

My garage puts a sticker on the dashboard, and I sometimes need to remember to check that. My friend and I decided to go out in her car one day not long ago, but she could not start it.   We phoned the RAC, but they reminded her that her MOT was three days out of date and told us that under the circumstances, they would only be able to help if she was a fully paid-up member.  They said that if your car is over three years old, the day your MOT becomes invalid, the car becomes ‘un-roadworthy’ regardless of age, appearance or technical ability to get down the road. It is, therefore, illegal for them to help in any way.   

Her car was parked in her drive, so we went in mine, and she got someone round to sort hers later, but just think about what would have happened if it had stopped on a motorway in the middle of the night.  Can you imagine the cost of getting it towed home privately?  More and more motorways don’t have lighting anymore, and we have all heard the tragic stories of people who have stopped on a highway where there is no hard shoulder. 

Just in case you are a driver who still travels a little further away from home than to the local shops or medical centre, I want to remind all readers to check when their driving dates will need their attention.

RR, Catford.

LPG did a little research… 

If you add your registration to the website below, it will remind you of car tax and MOT expiry dates, and to get texted updates, you can either phone the DVSA regarding your MOT on 0300 123 900 or the DVLA on 0300 790 6802 when it comes to vehicle tax queries … 

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