Every vehicle has a specific limit to which it can carry passengers or cargo. In most cases, people overlook this and end up overloading their car with passengers and cargo. This may seem an easy answer to your momentary problem of carrying the load, but in long term scenario, it can dent your pocket as your vehicle will wear and tear overtime.
Vehicle Overloading & Road Accidents
- Your wheels may bulge out and heat up increasing the risk of a blowout when you overload your car.
- The safety mechanism that your vehicle has may not function properly under the stress of weight. This means you are putting yourself as well as others on the road under the risk of an accident.
- Under the overloading condition, the suspension system comes under heavy stress and is rendered less effective over a period of time. It will also be unable to properly handle high speed.
- Overloading diminishes the effectiveness of your brakes.
- The most affected part of overloading is felt when it seriously compromises your ability to steer the car in straight line as well as on curves.
- Any sudden steering could result in you losing the control of your vehicle.
- Overloading seriously jeopardises your vehicle’s fuel economy, besides hampering the life of your engine. We are sure with petrol prices surging you would not like to drive a car with a bad mileage.
- Given the conditions of Indian roads and the badly designed speed breakers, the under body will get hit easily while the vehicle is overloaded with cargo or passengers. For cars that already have “low ground clearance” overloading can be a nightmare.
- Overloading increases the chances of wear and tear of the tyre which results in early degradation of them. That eventually results in economic loss for you.
- In certain cases, you might be denied “insurance claims” if you are driving a vehicle with too much weight on it and meets an accident that is a result of overloading.
So, now the next time you decide to pack your bags and go for a trip with family or friends don’t forget to check the “payload” capacity of your car. As they say, precaution is always better than cure.
On a lighter note, this video is to warn you:
solutions on overloading trucks