People not responding to recalls to lose MOT

The House commerce committee heard on Tuesday that vehicles with parts deemed faulty or unsafe will be called in to retest for an MOT if the owner fails to make the necessary changes.

During the session, MPs and the transport ministry discussed the issue of Takata airbags, which were deemed unsafe and subsequently recalled. However, these airbags were recalled after some cars were already sold to the wider public in Cyprus.

The committee said that these airbags have been responsible for two deaths in Cyprus, with one being that of Kyriakos Oxynos, 24, in late January, brought to light last week.

Millions of the airbags have been recalled, as exposure to high temperatures and humidity can cause the Takata airbag to explode, releasing metal shrapnel.

According to Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades, who attended the committee session, “the issue is big and requires everyone’s attention.”

He explained that during minister Yiannis Karousos’ term a procedure was carried out, which began to be implemented in 2023, based on which an obstacle is placed in issuing a certificate of suitability for a vehicle (MOT) if a recall of a component is not carried out.

As he explained, under the process the vehicle manufacturing plants inform the dealers, who inform the owners by letters and if they do not respond, then the dealers inform the department of motor vehicles, so that further action can be taken.

When asked if the ministry intends to implement more drastic measures, since the technical inspection (MOT) of private vehicles takes place every two years, Vafeades said that “what the department of motor vehicles is studying with a horizon of implementation, I hope, very soon, is in cases where this recall concerns a serious risk of injury, this suitability of the vehicle to be recalled much sooner than the next technical inspection.

“You’re basically going to call the vehicle in for a MOT well before two years,” he said.

He added that since 2017 a total of 98,000 recall notices have been issued for various car parts in Cyprus, of which 46,000 have been executed, with 52,000 recalls pending.

“Not all recalls are a risk of injury or a risk of death,” he said, explaining that a recall can even involve a vehicle’s licence plate.