illegal to drive with broken speedo?

andicole0 said:
Sorry but as of 20th March 2013 I think they are -

Speedometer
The car will fail if a speedometer is not fitted, is incomplete, inoperative, has a dial glass broken/missing or cannot be illuminated.

Andi.
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Ah, ok :)

How do they test the operation of the speedo? Mine wasn't tested/calibrated when my car was tested 2 months ago :)
 
Yes it is illegal and IIRC would result in a £50 non endorseable FPN for defective Speedo. As far as it realistically being found out, I doubt it would be.
 
Section 36 of The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Act 1986
Maintenance of speedometers

36. (1) Every instrument for indicating speed fitted to a motor vehicle—

(a)in compliance with the requirements of regulation 35(1) or (3); or

(b)to which regulation 35(2)(h) relates and which is not, under the Community Recording Equipment Regulation, required to be equipped with the recording equipment mentioned in that paragraph,

shall be kept free from any obstruction which might prevent its being easily read and shall at all material times be maintained in good working order.

(2) In this regulation “all material times” means all times when the motor vehicle is in use on a road except when—

(a)the vehicle is being used on a journey during which, as a result of a defect, the instrument ceased to be in good working order; or

(b) as a result of a defect, the instrument has ceased to be in good working order and steps have been taken to have the vehicle equipped with all reasonable expedition, by means of repairs or replacement, with an instrument which is in good working order.
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You only need a Nosey copper,once he catches you speeding,nothing stopping him testing if speedo works or not
 
MOT and Legalities are two different things. For example number plates, most cars will go through with Metro plates but if the cops see it, It's a 30 quid fine.

It's not "illegal" not to have a speedo, but it needs to be there to pass MOT. So I'd get it fixed when you have a chance, but if you have a sat nav you'll be sweet.
 
Nickyyy said:
MOT and Legalities are two different things. For example number plates, most cars will go through with Metro plates but if the cops see it, It's a 30 quid fine.

It's not "illegal" not to have a speedo, but it needs to be there to pass MOT. So I'd get it fixed when you have a chance, but if you have a sat nav you'll be sweet.
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No, it is illegal unless you fit a certain criteria.
 
Hyburnate said:
No, it is illegal unless you fit a certain criteria.
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But realistically who will give two hoots providing you are within the speed limit.

I spend 4 days driving with no speedo using a satnav when the cable snapped on my Golf last year. Im still here to tell the tale with no fines or points on my license.
 
Unless the law changed in recent years, its fine I think. I used to know someone with a car and a dead speedo and it was that way for years. He said the garage told him its not a problem and they dont test it anyway.
 
wazza300 said:
You only need a Nosey copper,once he catches you speeding,nothing stopping him testing if speedo works or not
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Sorry but this just won't happen - have you ever been stopped by the police? Unless you're a 19 year old driving a tarted up corsa there is an absolute minimal chance they would even think to check if your speedo works. They simply can't jump in your car and drive it at will, unless its causing an obstruction and you can't drive it or they have taken possession of it they won't touch your car- that's not how it works
 
Hyburnate said:
Section 36 of The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Act 1986
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Going by:

(b) as a result of a defect, the instrument has ceased to be in good working order and steps have been taken to have the vehicle equipped with all reasonable expedition, by means of repairs or replacement, with an instrument which is in good working order.

If the OP has a Sat-nav which displays speed, then surely that would be classed as a replacement instrument?
 
Haggisman said:
Going by:

(b) as a result of a defect, the instrument has ceased to be in good working order and steps have been taken to have the vehicle equipped with all reasonable expedition, by means of repairs or replacement, with an instrument which is in good working order.

If the OP has a Sat-nav which displays speed, then surely that would be classed as a replacement instrument?
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It has to be classed as this to be an accurate speedometer. Obviously this differs between GPS chip to GPS chip, however it's a grey area :)
(h)a vehicle equipped with recording equipment marked with a marking designated as an approval mark by regulation 5 of the Approval Marks Regulations and shown at item 3 in Schedule 4 to those Regulations (whether or not the vehicle is required to be equipped with that equipment) and which, as regards the visual indications given by that equipment of the speed of the vehicle, complies with the requirements relating to the said indications and installations specified in the Community Recording Equipment Regulation.
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My car has been driven in a state which would cause it to fail its MOT since I got it. I'm still fixing the last few things. Have I been breaking the law by driving it if I knew it wasn't capable of passing an MOT?
 
rodenal said:
Why would they ever do that?
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Traffic cops can do it to test the road-worthiness of a vehicle if they feel the need to.
Sometimes done after a collision to test possible defective parts (brakes, steering etc.) that may have a playing part in the collision.
 
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