Poorly maintained vehicles are a danger to other road users.

According to research by AA Approved Garages and reveals that poorly maintained vehicles played a contributory factor in more than 1,700 road casualties last year, up 7% compared to 2020.

Defective brakes were the most common defect causing 750 casualties, including 10 fatalities.

Tyre old story

Tyres came second with 491 casualties, but caused more fatalities with 12 people needlessly losing their lives. Faulty steering and suspensions complete the top three, contributing towards 255 casualties with six fatalities.

Penny Stoolman, managing director for AA Approved Garages, believes “simple home checks” could have prevented many of these.

“Likewise, MOTs and servicing are more than just a health check. They can be live-saving interventions that reduce the number of road casualties across the country.”

Recently, the government have suggested extending the MoT requirement to every two years to save people money. What’s more, the ‘cost of living crisis’ means less people are getting their vehicle serviced and repaired regularly.

“We are concerned,” say Penny. She believes that change to the MoT “would fly in the face of road safety”.

One in five drivers say they will cut back on car maintenance if bills soar.

Fuelling failure

More than three quarters (77%) of motorists surveyed by Startline Motor Finance say household costs are directly affecting whether they can afford their car. At the same time, 18% said they would put off replacing tyres and 22% will delay servicing.

Research commissioned by IAM Roadsmart found one in ten motorists had put off replacing their tyre when the tread is low. Meanwhile, 7% of survey respondents also stated that they have put off making a tyre change due to a puncture.

There are almost 36 million people with a full driving licence in the UK. The research means that up to 4.2 million drivers are possibly deferring critical tyre safety maintenance. Furthermore, 2.5 million motorists are potentially putting off fixing a puncture.

Neil Greig, director of Policy and Research at IAM RoadSmart, added: “Our research has laid bare that far too many motorists have decided to put off potentially critical maintenance on their tyres.

“While we recognise the financial issues many motorists will be facing during such difficult times, taking a chance with your tyres is simply not worth the risk when your own, and other road users’ safety is at risk.”