Written question asked by Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 3 November 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 5 November 2025. It was answered by Simon Lightwood (Labour) on Thursday, 6 November 2025 on behalf of the Department for Transport.
Motor Vehicles: Testing
- Question
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To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of updating section 8.1.1 of her Department's guidance entitled MOT inspection manual: cars and passenger vehicles, updated on 11 August 2025, to make it mandatory for MOT test centres to assess for exhaust noise.
- Answer
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Excessive vehicle noise can be a serious disruption to people’s lives. This is why it is included in the MOT as an inspection of exhaust silencers and noise deafening material as well as a subjective assessment of excessive noise upon revving the vehicle. The MOT tester will fail the vehicle if they deem the exhaust noise is unreasonably above the level expected from a similar vehicle in average condition.
The Department and the DVSA included a question about noise testing using decibel meters in a 2023 call for evidence about updating the MOT. Responses highlighted both the benefits of identifying excessively noisy vehicles and the difficulty of testing with decibel meters in a noisy garage environment.
Secondary information
- Type
- Written question
- Reference
- 87623
- Session
- 2024-26
- Subjects
- Motor vehicles Noise Testing
- Link
- View this Written question on www.parliament.uk
Librarians' tools
- Timestamp
- 2025-11-06 15:37:42 +0000
- URI
- http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/commons/2024-26/87623
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