That’s according to research from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), which is encouraging drivers to carry out regular, simple checks on their vehicles.

The latest MoT testing data for Great Britain out of the 28 million MOTs carried out last year, 38% resulted in an initial fail.

Nearly one in five of all cars taken for MOT had a problem with lighting and signalling – including simple problems such as blown bulbs.

DVSA chief executive, Paul Satoor said: “Carrying out simple checks on items such as lights and tyres will help motorists to stay safe and legal, as well as saving time and money when their vehicle is due its MOT.”

The research follows the publication last week of figures showing that the majority of UK drivers don’t know how to carry out basic maintenance tasks on cars. To help drivers carry out simple maintenance tasks, the DVSA has published a series of short videos on YouTube covering:

• tyre checks
• oil checks
• fluid checks
• brakes, lights, indicators and horn checks