New driving test car rules

New Driving Test Car Rules

As a continuation of the rules that already apply to cars used on the practical driving test, two new rules are to be implemented. From Monday 4 June 2018, you will be unable to take a driving test in a car that:

  • has the engine management light permanently illuminated, or if the light does not come on at all
  • has reversing lights that do not work. This ruleĀ applies only to cars first used from 1 September 2009

The new rules apply to the practical driving test for cars and not motorcycles. You can read about the rules that already apply to cars taken on the driving test, see car for driving test.

However, if the engine management light happens to come on during the driving test and only if the car appears to be working normally, the driving test will continue. The driving examiner will inform at the end of the test about this issue.

What is the Engine Management Light?

The engine management light will typically show on the dashboard of your car during engine ignition, but if all is working correctly, it will go out shortly after. If it stays on, comes on whilst driving or flashes, this means there’s a fault somewhere in the engine. The type of fault varies, but it often has something to do with exhaust emissions. For more information on this dashboard light, see why is the engine management light on?

Why Are the Driving Test Rules Changing?

The reason for these changes are because of new rules outlined for the MOT test cars that came into force on May 20, 2018. The defects outlined above are deemed as a major faults during the MOT test which will result in a MOT failure.

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