Car Owner Facts

And automobile, or car, is a four wheeled passenger vehicle that runs from it's own motor. Traditionally cars have up to 5 seats, two in the front and three in the back. They are built to run primarily on roads and are used more in the ferrying of people, rather than goods.

The number of cars has risen dramatically in recent years with some families owning up to six cars between four people as they can be affordable and much of the time people require them to commute for jobs and amenities. As of 2002 there were 590 million passenger cars worldwide, which works out roughly 1 for every 11 people, an enormous proportion.

Safety Regulations in Place for Cars

Due to the number of cars on the road there are a number of safety laws governing the way they must be handled and looked after. For example, in order for you to legally drive a car in the UK it must be taxed (i.e: paying for the ability to use the roads) and insured (covering them against accidents that were not that persons fault) and have a valid MOT certificate.

The MOT of a car must be carried out annually and the vehicle has to pass the MOT to be allowed back on the road and driven by the owner. If the car does not pass the MOT then there are generally two options for the owner of the vehicle. They can either declare the vehicle as 'SORN' (which stands for Statutory Off Road Notice) or pay for the repairs required to make the car roadworthy again. Generally after an MOT the owner will be given a sheet describing how well the car did. Most MOT specialists will pas cars that are roadworthy at the time of test but are likely to fairly soon after and have to instruct the owner to take the car to a garage to get it fixed soon.

Advantages of an MOT

The importance of MOT's is invaluable to owners of the vehicle and other road users. Because of the complications with building cars, and the technology within, there is a lot that can go wrong. The MOT is there to highlight these problems before they cause an accident. For example, if a cars' tyres have a very low tread, they will not stick to the road surface as well as a car with deep tread as it cannot displace any water, or surface material as quickly and effectively. This is likely to cause the car to skid and hurt both the driver and other possible road users.