MOT testing centre fined after child crushed by car

An MOT test centre has been fined £10,000 after a child sustained life-changing injuries when he was hit by a car and crushed.

A 14-year-old boy was with an adult, sitting down, waiting for an MOT to be conducted at New Auto Tech in Finsbury Park on May 4, 2022. 

The chair was situated in front of the brake rollers, however, as the MOT technician attempted to move the car in reverse, the vehicle was driven forwards off the brake rollers, crushing the child against the wall.

The boy required immediate hospital treatment, having sustained multiple pelvis fractures, and was off school for more than a year, and bed bound for three months following the incident.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that New Auto Tech had failed to ensure that members of the public were in a safe area when vehicles were being moved.

The MOT centre had a designated ‘viewing area’ to the side of the brake roller bay. This was a painted box on the floor with a chair placed inside it. 

However, there were no protective barriers and the business failed to stop customers from moving out of this area into parts of the workshop where vehicles were moving.

New Auto Tech of Alroy Road, London, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 for its failure to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of those not in its employment. 

The company was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,810 following a hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court on January 10.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Michelle Morphy said: “This case sends a clear message to MOT test centres that HSE will hold them to account if they fail to protect both workers and members of the public.

“On this occasion, they failed to protect a child, by allowing them to move from their allotted viewing area into an operational area, which should have been restricted to workers only.

“As such the child was seriously injured in a totally avoidable incident.”

This HSE prosecution was supported by HM inspector Oscar Dower and brought by enforcement lawyer Jayne Wilson and paralegal officer Lucy Gallagher.