The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has successfully completed the first trial of an initiative where photos were taken of vehicles at MOT, designed to boost road safety and combat fraud.
This is part of a fightback against ‘ghost’ MOTs – where some certificates are issued without vehicles ever being physically inspected.
The six-week trial involved 172 MOT testers across 62 garages taking photos of vehicles at the start of MOT tests, providing evidence that cars were physically present during testing. These images were automatically uploaded to the digital MOT Testing Service (MTS), creating a verifiable record attached to each test.
DVSA saw over 13,000 photos successfully uploaded during the trial period with participating garages uploading 450-500 images a day, with 1 garage owner describing it as a “painless and stress-free” experience.
Working with garages to keep our roads safe
The trial included a diverse range of testing stations, from independent garages to chains, dealerships and local council testing stations, covering all vehicle classes.
The trial found no significant impact on testing times. For the top 10 garages in the trial, the average test time remained at 40 minutes, with retest times increasing only slightly from 7 to 9 minutes – a gap DVSA is already working to close.
Chris Price, DVSA Head of MOT Policy, said: “While only a small number of testers are involved in ghost MOTs, it does happen and puts our roads at risk.
“We want to create a level playing field for all, where high quality is the default, and the scourge of fraudulent or substandard testing is minimised. “The trial has shown real promise so far – we’re excited to roll it out further.”
Following this success, DVSA will launch a wider second trial to test capturing images at scale before implementing a phased nationwide rollout. The agency will use the next phase to refine the software based on user feedback to ensure it works efficiently for all garage types.
