6.5 Million People Forget Their MOT According to MOT-REMINDER.COM Submitted By: Howse Jackson Marketing Monday, 20 April 2009

6.5 million people forget their MOT according to MOT-REMINDER.COM Submitted by: Howse Jackson Marketing Monday, 20 April 2009

Approximately 6.5 million people forget their MOT test each year according to a new MOT reminder website, MOT-REMINDER.COM (http://www.mot-reminder.com). The figure, equating to a quarter of the UK’s 26 million testable vehicles, means that millions of UK motorists are unknowingly driving illegally throughout the UK road network. In addition many of these drivers will be using cars that are unsafe putting themselves and their passengers at risk. MOT-REMINDER.COM (http://www.mot-reminder.com) is launching this week as a free service that reminds motorists via free email or a paid-for SMS service to renew their MOT test certificate. Emails and/or texts are sent one month prior to the MOT test as well as one week before and one day before. The new website becomes available to motorists at a time when other mandatory vehicle requirements such as road tax (vehicle excise duty) and car insurance already provide drivers with reminders via the government and insurance companies respectively. Mark Jackson, Managing Director of MOT-REMINDER.COM, says: “The aim of this free-to-use site is to make motorists aware of their looming MOT test date and to prevent them being fined up to a maximum of £1,000 for this one single offence if they forget their test*.” Jackson continues, “Forgetting an MOT test can also mean many motorists are unable to tax their cars whilst failure to have an up-to-date MOT test certificate can invalidate car insurance. MOT-Reminder.com will help prevent all these problems.” -Ends- For further information please contact Jeremy Walters on 07931 381209 or [email protected] * The UK Government is potentially able to acquire £6.5 billion in fines each year for this single MOT offence - enough to construct a brand new six lane motorway between Edinburgh and Reading. Note to Editors: •Introduced in 1960, The Ministry of Transport (MOT) test is an annual test of car safety and roadworthiness. The Ministry of Transport has since changed its name to Department of Transport, however, the MOT test has retained its old name. •MOT test certificates are issued in Great Britain by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) (http://www.vosa.gov.uk), an agency within the Department for Transport. Certificates in Northern Ireland are issued by the Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) (http://www.dvani.gov.uk/). •Many car repair garages throughout the UK are authorised to perform testing and to issue

Page 1 certificates. In Northern Ireland, tests are performed at special DVA Test Centres. •Of 18,300 testing stations, approx. 12,000 are independent garages who rely heavily on MOT income. They average 1,421 tests a year generating £70,000 income. There are 50,000 individual testers employed in the UK. Average t/o for a typical independent garage is approx. £175k with 3 technicians. •As of 2006, the MOT applies to cars over 3 years old. •Test price: £53.10 for cars and light vans. •29% of cars fail the test – 7.8 million defective vehicles. Of those failures, 14.9% relate to defective lights, 11% steering faults, 10% brakes and 8% on tyres. Key Websites: http://www.MOT-REMINDER.COM http://www.vosa.gov.uk/

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