Sillars airs views on 4-1-1 ahead of IAM rebrand

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Sarah_Sillars
Sarah Sillars OBE

Sarah Sillars gives her verdict on the four-year MOT as charity becomes IAM Roadsafe

The boss of road safety charity IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists) has voiced her opinion on the four-year MOT.

“I answered this question the last time around as the head of [the IMI]” said Sarah Sillars OBE. Now I’m wearing a road safety hat you might think the argument would be even stronger. I have a slightly different view now, which is ‘should it really be the MOT that picks up worn tyres, broken lights or whatever – or should there be more responsibility is on the driver to make some basic checks on the vehicle’ as is the case in many European countries”.

Sillars expanded: “The evidence says that if the service happens before the MOT, it becomes a validation. Because we have a lot of people in this country who use the MOT as the primary safety check it is very hard to argue for a change in the law”. The Chief Exec was speaking on the day that the charity launched a new and ‘less authoritarian’ logo and rebrand as ‘IAM Roadsmart’ and announced a switch away from promoting the advanced driving test as it’s core function, instead focusing on a number of ‘modular products’ such as motorway and night driving courses to help drivers upskill and fleet managers negate risks.

The organisation has a number of high-profile members who talk to the media about its benefits. Nigel Mansell has been promoting the re-brand, while Paddy Hopkirk champions the Older Driver Assessment course, notably at the recent CAT Awards.

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