This week's blog post is dedicated to a very important matter - staying road legal!

Police spot checks are regularly carried out across the country and it can be confusing as to what makes your car legal or not. Therefore we have compiled a list in the hope to break down some of the confusion and give you more confidence in knowing your car is in line with the law.

See below for simple rules and guidelines to make sure you are not caught out! Let us know if this article has helped you by tweeting us @MotorRange using the hashtag #RoadLegal.

1. MOT

There is no reminder, no alert, it is up to you to make sure your car is in good running order. It is vital that you never drive without an MOT or you could face heavy penalties. Your car must pass an MOT within three years of its first registration then every year after that.

To check your MOT status, click here!

2. Tax

Your tax must always be paid and up-to-date, just because it doesn’t have to be displayed does not mean it can’t be paid!

3. Tyres

The law states that your tyres must have a minimum tyre tread of 1.6mm to be legal however most vehicle manufacturers recommend replacing them at 3mm for safety reasons.

Your tyres must also have no distortions or lumps and must not have any tears.

Finally, you must also make sure that all tyres have an ‘E’ mark on them as this is proof that your tyres are legal. Failure to have legal tyres can result in a fine of up to £2,500.

4. Insurance

There are three different types of policies you can have in this country:

• Comprehensive
• Third party, fire and theft
• Third party only (minimum cover)

Even if you only have the minimum cover, you must always have some level of insurance on the car you drive, driving without insurance is illegal!

5. Registration

Registration is very important and you must make sure it is correct. If you bought your car new then your retailer should have arranged the registration for you, however making sure the details are correct is always a good idea.

6. Keep the levels right

The Police spot checks will ensure that your car has the basic essentials like windscreen wash. You must make sure that you never drive without enough screen wash to keep your windscreen clean as it can severely impair your vision.

The Police checks will also ensure that your car is not producing high exhaust emissions.

If you notice this with your car, don’t just leave it and hope it goes away, be sure to get it inspected and fix the problem.

Thank you for reading this week's blog post, let us know if you found it useful by tweeting us @MotorRange using the hashtag #RoadLegal.

Until next time!

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Note: Even though we have made every effort to make sure this article is as accurate as can be when we produced this information, we (Motor Range Ltd) can take no responsibility for any misinterpretation or errors in the content and we can take no responsibility for any consequences arising from such errors or misinterpretation of the content.