Vehicle owners will be granted a six-month exemption from MOT testing, enabling them to continue to travel to work where this cannot be done from home, or shop for necessities, during the COVID-19 outbreak.
All cars, vans and motorcycles that usually would require an MOT test will be exempted from needing a test from 30 March 2020.
Vehicles must be kept in a roadworthy condition, and garages will remain open for essential repair work.
Drivers can be prosecuted if driving unsafe vehicles.
Transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said: “We must ensure those on the frontline of helping the nation combat COVID-19 are able to do so.
“Allowing this temporary exemption from vehicle testing will enable vital services such as deliveries to continue, frontline workers to get to work, and people to get essential food and medicine.
“Safety is key, which is why garages will remain open for essential repair work.
Legislation will be introduced on 30 March 2020 and will come into immediate effect for 12 months, following a short consultation with key organisations.
Drivers will still need to get their vehicle tested until the new regulations come into place, if they need to use it.
For drivers unable to get an MOT that’s due because they are in self-isolation, the Department for Transport is working with insurers and the police to ensure people will not be negatively affected as a result of things that are out of their control.
Practical driving tests and annual testing for lorries, buses and coaches have been suspended for up to three months.
