DVA plans at least 300 roadside safety inspections of private cars in Northern Ireland this year

Northern Ireland's Driver & Vehicle Agency has set a target to carry out at least 300 roadside safety inspections of private cars during 2026/27.

The target appears in DVA's newly published annual business plan and forms part of a wider compliance and enforcement programme covering private cars, heavy goods vehicles, buses, taxis and multi-agency operations.

The stated purpose of the private-car inspections is to ensure vehicles meet roadworthiness requirements and improve overall vehicle safety.

This is a target, not a claim that 300 drivers have already been stopped

The business plan describes work DVA intends to complete during the financial year. It should not be confused with the agency's historical enforcement statistics.

PureCar has already reported that DVA enforcement teams carried out 1,573 roadside checks in 2025/26. The new document is forward-looking and gives more detail about the specific inspection targets set for 2026/27.

What else is in the enforcement plan?

DVA's targets include at least 1,000 roadside safety inspections of HGV units, at least 165 bus inspections, a minimum of 5,000 online licensing checks on goods vehicles, buses and taxis and at least 75 multi-agency operations.

It also plans to deploy on-board diagnostics testing equipment on at least 50 occasions to check for emissions-control and speed-limiter manipulation across HGVs and buses.

That OBD target is specifically written for heavy goods vehicles and buses in the business plan. It should not be misreported as a new 50-check OBD programme for ordinary private cars.

What could a roadside safety inspection mean for a car owner?

The business plan itself does not publish a step-by-step checklist for the 300 private-car inspections, so it would be wrong to invent one.

The relevant principle is roadworthiness. A vehicle being used on the road must be kept in a safe condition regardless of whether it currently holds an MOT certificate.

An MOT is a test of specified items at a point in time. It does not give the owner permission to continue driving a car that later develops a dangerous tyre, brake, steering, lighting or other safety defect.

A valid MOT is not a defence to a dangerous vehicle

This is one of the most important misunderstandings in motoring. A vehicle can pass an MOT and then become unsafe afterwards.

Tyres can wear or be damaged, bulbs can fail, brakes can deteriorate and warning lights can appear. Drivers remain responsible for the condition of the vehicle between tests.

Why DVA's targets matter

Enforcement can sound abstract until the annual targets are broken down. The new plan shows that DVA is not only a booking-and-testing organisation. It also carries out compliance work on the road and with other agencies.

For ordinary motorists, the practical takeaway is simple: keep the vehicle roadworthy every day, not only during the week before its MOT.

Source

DVA Business Plan 2026-27, published 23 September 2026 by the Department for Infrastructure. The private-car roadside inspection target is listed in Annex A under compliance and enforcement.