Motorists urged to give their windscreens an MOT

Already nearly two million vehicles (8.4%) fail their MOT test in the UK each year due to windscreen damage.

Auto Windscreens is now urging motorists to check their windscreen before their vehicle’s MOT and avoid the potential cost of a re-test and the vehicle being off the road. If there is damage of more than 10mm in the driver’s line of sight or 40mm in the rest of the swept area, then the car is liable to fail its MOT.

The freezing weather has left the UK’s roads exposed to a damaging condition known as ‘freeze-thaw’ resulting in an estimated 1.5 million potholes, twice as many as 2007 according to The Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA).

The damage has left councils facing a repair bill of more than 100 million. The estimated repair bill of *17 councils alone is in excess of 108 million. However, to do the job properly instead of ‘patch and mend’, the AIA estimates would cost 10 billion to restore our roads to an acceptable state.

Prior to the big freeze in January this year, the AIA’s **2009 ALARM survey showed that there was a pothole on average every 275 metres of road.

The AIA estimates that this could now have reduced to every 183 metres of road.

Nigel Davies, Auto Windscreens Sales and Marketing Director, said: “With the average MOT costing around 45, the last thing motorists want to hear is that it has failed on a minor point.

“Given the current road conditions the chances of windscreen damage is more likely. All too often people don’t give their windscreen a second thought until it is too late.

“My advice is to check it now to avoid the costly inconvenience of the vehicle failing its MOT and subsequently being off the road until a windscreen replacement or repair can be arranged.”