Ilegal To Drive Without Speedo?

[Ladders]

Having got my car back without a working speedo. Cheers! I was wondering, is it ilegal to drive without your speedo working?

 

I'm sure I heard that its not actually a legal requirement?

[strees]

I believe it falls into the "not a roadworthy vehicle" catergory - ie it would fail an MOT.

[Simon_111s]

Curious that cos i had a car without a speedo for 2 years and it passed 2 MOT's in that time. I think technically they can do you for it but unless you are actually stopped/flashed for speeding who's to know? They don't test it on the MOT as the car never moves fast enough for it to read anyway.

[Ladders]

Suppose the coppers would do you for it whatever then. Bugger

[Martin_S]

Technically, you need an accurate speed measuring device - it is a requirement of the Road Vehicle Construction and Use regulations, and the car is 'unroadworthy' withput one.

 

HOWEVER, this need not necessarily be a Speedometer. You can use the rev. counter, calibrated for speeds in various gears. In practice, this means some stickers on the tacho itself to indicate the common speed limits (30,40,50,60,70) in 4th & 5th, to keep you safe from the scameras.

 

 

In practice, the filth are never gonna know your speedo isn't working, though - they are hardly likely to ask you to take them for a drive and check the vehicle in motion, are they?

[Scott_Mac]

Yup, i believe it is illegal, but as Martin says above... how likely are they to find out.

 

So buy a GPS Speed Detector and never have to service your car again, or increase the mileage

[Ladders]

Still discovered some usefull facts about not having a working speedo

 

1. I can drive without adding extra miles onto the car

 

2. The missus doesnt moan about me speeding all the time, well except when I was keeping up with of motorbikes down the road

 

Think I'll send any speeding tickets to Harlequins

[dobbo]

I understood it isn't illegal, but you can't rely on the fact that it doesn't work as a defence for speeding. Many years ago I worked summers doing MoT testing and it certainly never got looked at. Not sure whether or not that's still the case.

 

Anyone with an MoT failure sheet can check if there's any entry about speedos.

 

Anyway, how would it be tested to ensure it was accurate ? Head light angles are checked, emissions are checked, sometimes ;-) and brake performance is measured. Never take the car ona calibrated speed run, though, do they ?

 

Chris

[Martin_S]

It should be remembered, though, that the MOT does *not* cover all C&U requirements, neither, legally, does a current MOT necessarily prove roadworthyness. You only have to look at the SVA regulations and test to see that.

 

Thankfully, most coppers don't know their C&U regs from their elbows!

[Kris H]

Some older cars which are still used on the roads on classic rallies etc don't have speedos at all though, so not quite sure how they'd square up given that they can't exactly pretend not to have noticed...

[Martin_S]

Basically, cars must comply with the C&U regs that were in place when they were constructed. As a more recent example, this means that cars built prior to 1992 do not have to have catalysts fitted (even if the car was originally supplied with one).

 

Go back a bit further in time and, as ou say, you can get away with no speedos, no indicators, acetylene headlamps and no front brakes.

 

Don't try any of the above on your Elise, though - even if you manage to get it re-registered as a 1902 Panhard et Levassor!

[Kris H]

Don't try any of the above on your Elise, though - even if you manage to get it re-registered as a 1902 Panhard et Levassor!

OK, how about just explaining that the car was built by lotus and hoping that this excuses nothing working?