Door handle and MOT

AFAIK no, but if you can only open it from the outside it is a fail.

says:

DOORS

Both front doors must be capable of being opened from the inside and outside and all doors must latch securely.

so if it is a rear door you are ok, front no.

mrcheerful

how do those modded cars with elec relays and no actual handles pass then? seen them on the outside.

In news:3ACAd.83387$ snipped-for-privacy@fe1.news.blueyonder.co.uk, Julian 'Penny for the guy' Hales decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

because they can be opened from the inside or outside.

Because you can open them with the remote zapper.

Forget about door handles, some cars don't even have doors. How do they get through MOT then?

It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Johannes H Andersen saying something like:

Sorry, you were saying?

i know that, but if its a safety issue ie after car crash, the rescue from the outside wont have access to the zapper.

And if it's a normal car and it's locked from the inside? Any crash that's going to make it severe enough to warrant resuce from the outside will probably have buckled and jammed the doors anyway....

"Julian 'Penny for the guy' Hales" wrote in message news:5TFAd.84921$ snipped-for-privacy@fe1.news.blueyonder.co.uk...

One of my mates built a VW Beetle custom, about 3 foot high, no door handles. If you reached under the nearside rear wing you'd find a button attached to a Jaguar solenoid that triggered the door locks. I have no idea how safe this would be in an accident scenario though. Except for the fact that he would probably pass safely under all the wreckage in front. (That was a joke btw)

In article , Chris Street writes

And that sort of glass does not stand up to a sledge hammer very well

I'll snip the thread then

Dave

Not this old chesnut again. Should find plently on the Google archives on this one. Simply, open the window from the inside open the door using the outside handle - "Pass". Matter of interpritation of the text in the manual by the MOT tester. There is no specific law requiring an external door handle or that the door should open from the outside whilst a person outside of the said vehicle is operating the handle on the outside of the vehicle. Anyone know any different please post the full text of the specific law relating to this matter. NOT the text from the MOT testers manual which is an interpritation by the authorities.

John

Hmm. According to

the interpretation is that if you have inside and outside handles as fitted by the maker, they must work on the front doors unless they have been modified in some professional way to be remote etc. In other words, a broken door handle - as in my case - will fail, but a custom made remote where the handle is removed and the hole filled in is ok.

Incidentally, the MOT place I use couldn't fit the new handle anymore than I could, and also re-test for free within 14 days. If I can get a BMW dealer to fit it within that time. ;-)

The one in the question is the outside. However, the remote opens the windows so I've been simply reaching inside to do open it - no more dangerous to passing traffic than normal, although I could see opening the drivers door by leaning across from the passenger's side etc could be.

John ( snipped-for-privacy@g-andyouknowtherest.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Isn't *everything* on an MOT?

Well, yes, but it's the official interpretation by the authorities that the tester goes by to decide whether you get a certificate or not...

I'd say that the Reason For Rejection was fairly clear...

"b. a driver's or front passenger's door cannot be opened from both inside and outside the vehicle from the relevant control in each case."

"Note: Reason for rejection 1 b does not apply to: . front passenger doors if the door aperture has been permanently 'filled' as part of a specialised customisation provided that there are no obvious aperture gaps."

I would agree the tester is following a manual and the tester is providing an interpritation of the manual. But, it is not the tester who would carry out an appeal. That is for the authorities of course. It might be that the authorities agree with with the testers decision in the end, of what might be considered a 'reasonable' interpritation of the manual, and in doing so may say a reason for rejection is met. However, and this is a big however... The authorities would be deemed to have acted unreasonably if they attempted to enforce an interpritation that is beyond the requirements of the law.

John

Managed to change the door handle on the E39. It's said to need special tools, but I managed it by stripping out the door - airbags and all. So should get my free re-test tomorrow with a bit of luck. As the tax has now run out too. ;-) Luckily, no work until Wednesday, so should have it all legal again by then.