adminAccording to the law, the carrying capacity of a Public Service Vehicle in Zimbabwe should be clearly tabulated at a conspicuous place inside the vehicle. This is not only for enforcement purposes but also for the benefit of passengers. All transporters and bus crews must not overload their vehicles. Your safety is in your hands. The ideal safe set-up is to have all vehicle occupants wearing seat belts. It is therefore unsafe and careless to be made to or to volunteer to stand or kneel along the aisle so that the transporter or crew can make “extra cash”. Let us all refuse to board overloaded vehicles.
Overloading a vehicle
An overloaded vehicle is one that would be carrying excess passengers or heavy loads on top or on the roof rack.
The carrying capacity of a vehicle is obtained by subtracting the net vehicle mass from the gross vehicle mass. In that way the vehicle inspectors can determine the maximum number of passengers to be carried.
Using these methods commuter omnibuses can be 15 seaters (there is no 18-seater) while some are 12 seaters. Any excess load must be placed in a trailer that can be drawn by vehicle. It is also important to note that such trailers also have a maximum permissible weight in the form of a GVM.
Loading offences
A driver can easily commit offences that are related to loading of vehicles and trailers.
Section 77 (C) of Statutory Instrument 154 makes it an offence to drive with a vehicle’s load not safely contained within the vehicle’s body or securely fastened to the vehicle or is arranged in such a way to obstruct view of the rear of the vehicle.
Anyone who drives a vehicle with a load in excess of 4,6m from the carriageway or likely to damage overhead wires, bridges or other construction will be contravening Section 77 (d). The law prohibits drivers from driving a vehicle with a load overhang that is more than 1,2m at the rear, load that is over 2,5m in width and a load overhang of more than 90cm to the front.
Section 76(e) of S.I 154 of 2010 prohibits dangerous loading where the weight distribution is likely to cause danger to another person or vehicle on the road.
Vehicles and trailers are required to have a red flag on an extended load of 60cm or more during the day or a bright red light or red reflector at night (including stationary vehicles). Motorists may be asked to pay an admission of guilt fine to the police for violating this law.
Effects of overloading
Any load will have an effect in the handling of your vehicle and this becomes worse as you increase the load. A change in the centre of gravity or the weight the vehicles is carrying will affect its braking and handling on bends.
Car Performance
The more mass you have to move, the more energy you require. This means the engine now has to work harder. It now requires more fuel.
In case of emergency a driver may carry out sudden and unexpected manoeuvres and in this instance the vehicle will respond more slowly and take longer to recover from changes in direction.
The handling characteristics of a vehicle can suddenly change if the vehicle’s load is not secured and moves around when the car shifts direction. This can change the centre of mass in the vehicle.
Steering
Overloading can seriously compromise the ability to steer the car in a straight line and around bends safely.
There are many chances of losing control if you hit a pothole or other obstruction at even low speed. The consequences are even worse at higher speeds.
An overloaded vehicle puts a strain on the springs, wheel bearings, tyres and suspension. An overloaded vehicle will therefore be less stable, difficult to steer and take longer to stop.
Vehicles react differently when their maximum carrying capacities are exceeded.
Other effects
The tyres of an overloaded vehicle can over-heat and wear out rapidly which increases the chances of a premature, dangerous and expensive failure or blow out.
The driver’s control and operating space in an overloaded vehicle is reduced, thereby increasing the chances of an accident.
When driving an overloaded vehicle you cannot have normal acceleration. This makes it difficult to overtake.
At night the headlights of an overloaded vehicle will tilt up, blinding oncoming drivers.
With overloading, seatbelts are often not used as the aim is to pack in as many people as possible into the vehicle.
Conclusion
Overloading a vehicle results in one incurring higher maintenance costs to the vehicle. Tyres, brakes and shock absorbers wear out faster. Fuel consumption increases.
It is also illegal to overload a vehicle and in the event of such circumstances, the insurance cover becomes void. Do not board an overloaded vehicle this Heroes holiday.
“Together we can save millions of lives”.
The writer, Ernest Muchena, is a defensive driving expert employed by the Traffic Safety Council as the Product Development and Marketing Manager. He can be contacted on 0772 110 898 /04 751208 ext 107 or [email protected] / [email protected]
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