Third National Lockdown: Here’s What Motorists Need To Know
Britain is once again is a state of national lockdown due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Here’s what motorists should bear in mind over the coming weeks and months…
Third National Lockdown
Yesterday evening (January 4th) Prime Minister Boris Johnson plunged the nation into a third national lockdown; largely in response to a new, and much more contagious, variant of the coronavirus. This means that people have been instructed to stay home, except for when making essential journeys such as making medical appointments or shopping for necessities. Many of the restrictions will have an impact on what motorists can, and cannot do, with their cars. Here’s what they need to know…
Can You Pop Out For A Drive?
For some motorists, driving for driving’s sake is a real pleasure. Unfortunately, under lockdown, you can’t just take to the roads without a sufficiently good reason. You can drive to access public services, to get to your place of work if you can’t work from home and to purchase necessities. Things are a bit more ambiguous when it comes to exercise. For instance, can you drive to a park? The general advice is to stay as local to your home as possible. In the past, some authorities have suggested that driving to transport exercise equipment wasn’t appropriate either. In other words, whether your nearest park is ‘local’ or not may be up for debate.
Will Garages Remain Open?
As with other lockdowns, the UK’s garage network will remain open for business – being classified as ‘essential’ businesses. This means that you’ll still be able to get your cars serviced and maintained. The only difference with the third lockdown is that there is no planned MOT extension; meaning that, if yours is due, it needs to be conducted before the date of expiry if you want to avoid fines and penalty points. It’s worth considering that, despite being open, some garages may be inundated with bookings. If your car needs a mechanic, book as early as possible.
Can I Buy A Car?
Yes, but not necessarily how you’d like. Showrooms, as with previous lockdowns, are being closed. The industry isn’t particularly happy about this. They claim that their environments make social distancing easy and point to the fact that showrooms have remained open in the likes of Germany. So if you want to visit a dealership and browse their models in the traditional way, you’re out of luck. However, the majority of them will be operating click-and-collect services and contactless forms of delivery. So, whether the car you want is new or used, you can probably still get your hands on it. Be cautious about buying from a private seller though. Households shouldn’t be mixing and popping out to pick up a car from someone’s residence won’t be considered an ‘essential’ form of travel.
Nearly Half Of All Motorists Fear Driving In Winter Weather – https://autoserveclub.co.uk/blog/nearly-half-of-all-motorists-fear-driving-in-winter-weather/
Brexit: Here’s What You Need To Know About Driving In The EU Now – https://autoserve.co.uk/motoring-tips-advice/brexit-heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-driving-in-the-eu-now/
