Overloading Defeats All The Safety Features

May 05, 2016 Clare Rutkiewicz CommercialVehicles, overlaoding, ArriveAlive, RoadSafety, trucks, aftermarket

Advances in commercial vehicle safety technology could be undermined by dangerous overloading, warns the UK's Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). The organisation has highlighted the poor standard of loading of what are classified as “vans” in that country – however in SA the trend is across the vehicle load capacity. Almost nine in 10 (88.5%) of the 2,381 vans weighed last year by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) in the UK were found to be overloaded, a worse record than the previous year in which 84% of the 3,337 checked were illegal. That readers, is in the UK. We know the poor record in SA thanks to enlightening stories from Dave Scott.

Manufacturers are offering increasing levels of safety on the latest vehicles, including advanced collision warning systems among others and future models will see autonomous emergency braking included as well. But for all the benefits advanced safety tech brings, an overloaded or poorly loaded commercial vehicle (or car) can still pose a risk to its driver and other road users, adding vital metres to braking distances and affecting handling.

Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, comments: “Vans have never played a more important role (in a country's economy) so it is a concern that the in-use safety record remains so poor. Manufacturers are investing significant amounts in new safety technology, but this can only do part of the job. We continue to urge operators and owners to comply with the law to keep themselves and others safe, avoid the risk of fines and keep the threat of further legislation at bay.”

In the UK anyone operating a heavy goods vehicle (HGV) is subject to strict rules under the Operator Licensing regime, but those rules do not apply to vehicles under 3.5 tonnes – in other words, the vast majority of vans. In good old SA the focus has been primarily on trucks, but the logic remains the same no matter what you are driving. The more you ignore the weight and load limits, the more you endanger your vehicle and other road users.

Make sure you and your drivers are familiar with the document "Loading Of Heavy Vehicles In South Africa" which is available here - http://www.nra.co.za/live/content.php?Session_ID=dab9d1ff5b53e6cd7bca3d7f1698f79d&Category_ID=112 as well as "