Has anyone had any problems with aftermarket steering wheels under the new MOT procedures where the OE airbag is no longer present. I’m referring to section 5.4 of the VOSA MOT Testing Manual:
This inspection applies to airbags, seat belt
pretensioners and seat belt load limiters fitted as original equipment.
Method of inspection: As far as practicable, check that all airbags fitted as original equipment are present and not obviously defective
Reason for failure:
1. An airbag obviously missing or defective.
Now the "obviously missing or defective" could mean an OE steering wheel with the airbag removed for some strange reason.. OR an aftermarket steering wheel where an airbag is not fitted, however, as an airbag was 'original equipment' it's still missing.
I’ve just fitted a non airbag moto-lita steering wheel to my 98 Mk2, which can with an airbag. I checked with VOSA and with my local MOT station and both advised that it would be OK, so long as the airbag warning sign didn’t come on (which you can easily fix by removing the bulb). In the event, I fitted it (there was some fettling to do to make the horn work) and took the car for its MOT. It passed with no problems.
So, proceed with confidence. A bigger issue is the quality of the aftermarket wheel (cheap ones can be very flimsy and unsafe) and be prepared to fettle in order to get the horn to work.
Air bags are subject to a bedding in period for the MOT, one that is missing should result in a failure from spring this year. See this Special Notice.
I take obviously to mean that the tester can’t dismantle anything to see if it’s missing or not.
That’s interesting. Will it mean, I wonder, that a car which passed the MOT in March 2012 with the airbag steering wheel removed, will fail when retested in March 2013 ???
Even within those notices, there is some ambiguity.
‘Missing’ suggests ‘not there when it should be’, but that is in what context?
Compared to the original equipment as specified by the manufacturer? Compared to the equipment currently installed in the vehicle? Compared to the relevant construction and use regs for a vehicle of that year (which would open a can of worms in itself, as there’s a LOT of vehicles which would fail based on construction and use regs, but pass the MOT)? Does every MOT center have a list of all vehicles where airbags are fitted a original equipment?
If you have an aftermarket steering wheel which is designed not to have an airbag, then it’s not missing. Something that isn’t supposed to be there can’t be missing. That’s where there appears to be some ambiguity.
I didn’t really want to go here again, but surely, there is a date after which all cars in the UK have to have an airbag? If so and the car is registered after that date, it must fail?..I really don’t know and it is really only of acadenmic interest to me. I will watch with interest as new mots happen
As far as I know there’s no legal requirement for cars to have an airbag. Look at small volume manufacturers like Caterham, Noble etc… they don’t have steering wheel airbags as standard. I also can’t find anything in the construction and use regulations to specify a requirement for airbags. But I’ve not gone through every single ammendment (there’s 105 ammendments) to double check.
There is currently no legal requirement for any car to have an airbag fitted but where they are fitted they must be in good working order. The trend for cars to have airbags fitted first as optional extra then as standard came out of the Euro NCAP ratings for car safety much publicised and used by manufacturers to show how safe their products are. Legislation covers minimum requirements whereas Euro NCAP focuses on best practice and much higher standards. I don’t suppose Caterham, Noble etc, or their customers are too bothered about Euro NCAP!
That’s my understanding too, but I didn’t go through the legal docs enough to be 100% sure.
So if there’s no legal requirement for an airbag, how can a vehicle fail the MOT for not having one where it’s designed not to have one (e.g. with an aftermarket steering wheel) It’s not as if it’s an airbag equipper steering wheel with a gaping hole in the middle.
I imagine its same as in cars with eqipped with ABS. If you car has ABS then it should work (dash lightshould not come on) to pass an MOT. If you remove the dash light or the ABS completly then its fine, even if the cars originally fitted with ABS.
I agree that’s how it SHOULD be, but the wording is ambiguous about it. “missing” could mean “dirty great hole in the steering wheel where an airbag should be” or equally “removed safely, and no longer present where it was original equipment”
You have to read the Information column and Method of Inspection column in the Testers Manual in conjunction with the Reason For Rejection column. The information column for air bags says “This inspection applies toairbags, seat belt pretensioners and seat belt load limiters fitted as original equipment.”, which was quoted in the original post. If it was built with an air bag it should be fitted.
This probably comes down to the fact that the vehicle was designed to have one and gained “whole vehicle type approval” under EU legislation enacted in the UK which allowed the vehicle to be manufactured and sold to the specification approved. Any alteration to “approved” specifications invalidates the type approval the ramifications of which I wouldn’t want to guess, I believe some manufacturers print warnings on this in their handbooks.
A lot of the changes seem to relate to the presence and functionality of standard safety related equipment which would have been “type approved”.
Potentially this could have a significant effect on the after market mods market but at least disclosing any and all mods to the insurance provider prevents any cop out from their cover.
As I understand the MOT test, if the vehicle has a “part” fitted then it should work
So if the steering wheel should have an air bag fitted then it should be functional, like wise a rear wiper should work. If it is removed, then it ain’t there to be tested. If warning lights illuminate because some thing is disconnected/not functioning correctly then there is a problem?
As a point of interest…why would you want to remove the airbag wheel, and put in one that offers less protection in the event of an accident?
I like the wheel in my MK3, it’s one of the “better” looking steering wheels which have an airbag fitted
For me (and I don’t want to start an argument) it’s like removing your seat belts…because you don’t like wearing them…you only have to get it wrong once, and if the airbag in conjunction with the seat belt saved your life, you at least get to drive again, where as without them you might be driving a coffin…could you post a picture of the new wheel over the old one?
I think many people assume they won’t be having a major front end impact, and a huge majority of people will never have one. Some people would rather fit something they like and will definitely use every day. Sure the protection is reduced, but the the level of protection is a compromise anyway, or else we’d all have WRC spec cages, seats and harnesses and wear suits and helmets for driving.
I’ve been in a major front end impact, and I got a broken spine and smashed hand. Neither of my cars have airbags (in fact none of my cars have ever had a factory fitted airbag), but I’m not sure I’d remove them if I had one. Certainly it would have been nice to have had them back in 1995 when my hobbies were swimming and mountain biking. As the risks are pretty obvious anyone who removes one will have made the decision after some thought. Let people enjoy their personal responsibility.
As I read it, if your car was fitted with an airbag when it was built then it has to be there now. Just the same as a catalytic converter if fitted as new, we can’t just remove them 'cos we feel like it. Removing all trace of it won’t wash either.
I see there is a Mk 2 on Ebay right now with an after market wheel and no airbag. The seller promises a new MOT with the sale. I wonder how he/she will get on when it is presented for testing.
…Some people like to use their cars in situations other than on a road. Having a well chosen wheel can assume some importance on sprints/hillclimbs for example.
Speaking of the new MOT requirements, I wonder what people with a non adjustable divers bucket seats will run into problems, as the new rules say that the seat must allow fore and aft movement.
