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Top tips: Passing your annual test • Pay attention to
Page 40
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headlamp aim. It is the main reasori for vehiclesto initially fail their annual test. Vosa has produced a guide and a video to help operators improve their chances. The guide, Headlamp Aim, is downloadable from www.vosa.gov.uk; the video, Improve Your Aim (code VIV29), is available for £10 from Vosa, PO Box 12, Swansea SA1 1 BP or by phoning 0870 60 80 440.
• Think about contracting out maintenance. Overall, initial test failure rates last year were 37% for vehicles maintained in-house compared with 32.6% for those whose maintenance was handled by a third party. Although failures tend to decrease as fleet size increases, failure rates for vehicles naintained in-house were still higher.
• Dispose of trucks that are more than seven years old. There is a marked increase in test failure rates in vehicles aged eight years and over. According to Vosa, the failure rate jumps from 11,3% for vehicles aged six to seven years old to 19.6% for vehicles aged eight to nine years old.
• Check your seat-belts. From 1 April 2006 any vehicles with defective seat-belts or associated items will fail the test.