smiffyz (geoff) wrote:
No doubt we've all been asked to carry more than we're licensed for, i know i have. and as well as "i'll crouch down in the footwell" it's been asked "i'll get in the boot" as well
.
When it's explained that my license isn't worth it and i'll radio for another car, they get proper shirty
!
But this guy only had 2 in the car anyway, so he could have taken them legally.
I can’t understand someone putting his job on the line for anything, let alone a prank!
My instincts would lean towards it being a prank but I'm surprised the driver didn't plead not guilty? If he had no intention of driving then that might have been a good enough excuse? I can recall some years ago when a mini cooper was overloaded to see how many people would fit inside? That particular experiment took place while parked on a main road so I can't really see the difference. Having said that, like most people I don't know the precise law on overloading a vehicle. I suspect it wouldn't have to be moving to be classed as overloaded but there must be a defence about intention to move?
Overloading is about road safety and normally concerns weight capacity in respect of axle overloading. However passenger overloading is also illegal and rather than risk your license its always wise to tell people that do try it on that you're not insured to carry more than the permitted number of persons prescribed by the council and you have no intention breaking the law, for them.
Back in 1989 John Prescott, the Shadow Transport Secretary, demanded that the Tory Government veto European Commission proposals to allow 44-tonne juggernauts on to Britain's roads. He pointed out that the proposals would also stop any checking at European ports of vehicle overloading,
which could undermine the safety and stability of ferries.
Obviously Mr Prescott didn't have much faith in the stability of ferries.
Back in may 2005 a Nurse from Oxford overloaded her five seater Citroen car with seven school kids, some of which were sat on each others knee in the front and rear passenger seats, the car left the road and collided with another vehicle killing the driver and four of the seven children in her own car. The police said overloading was a major factor of the accident.
I found this story in the Evening standard from 2002 and perhaps it’s appropriate to remind all of us about the wide ranging consequences of overloading and the penalties which can be attached which most of us probably didn't realise.
The Evening Standard (London)
June 28, 2002
HEADLINE: Taking a load off
BYLINE: James Luckhurst
It is estimated that at least one in 20 vehicles is leaving the ports overweight. Kent Police warns that every returning ferry and Channel Tunnel Shuttle train contains at least four cars with more weight on board than they are designed to carry.
Weight-related accident statistics aren't available, but overloading invalidates insurance, customs officials can confiscate cars and their cargo, and courts can impose fines of up to £2,000. And it doesn't stop there.
"If you cause a fatal crash because your vehicle was overweight, you could face a ten-year prison sentence for causing death by dangerous driving," said PC Mark Lamb, of Kent Police.
We went on a weight-watching patrol with Kent Police officers Tim Williamson and Mark Egerson-Wright who soon stopped one early morning van driver. A weighbridge near Maidstone showed his £2,500 haul of lager had put his rented van more than 1,300Kg overweight.
Customs seized the van and impounded the beer. We were told magistrates would most likely fine the driver £1 for every overweight kilogram, suggesting a fine in excess of £1,300, with six or more points on his licence.
Lamb said: "Being overweight is dangerous enough. But the tricks van drivers use to disguise their heavy loads are potentially even more lethal.
"They put chocks in their suspension springs, steel blocks on back axles, and they'll even pump 100 pounds of air pressure into tyres designed for 45.
"One driver disconnected the load valves going to his braking system. When he'd unloaded the van he forgot to reconnect them.
The first time he braked he locked up the back axle and overturned."
Car drivers also break the rules.
We saw Williamson and Egerson-Wright weigh an old hatchback that had been stopped on the M20.
The weight plate under the bonnet revealed a maximum rear axle loading of 900Kg. The weighbridge showed 985Kg, nearly 10 per cent over. The police stopped him from moving anywhere until his brother took on the excess load in his car.
Overloading plays havoc with a car's tyres, according to former tyre development engineer Steve Johnson of the fleet training firm, Drive & Survive.
"Nearly every safety device fitted to your car depends on your tyres working effectively," he said. "When tyre pressures are low and weight is excessive, there's a huge build-up of heat.
The tyre temperature can double, leading to a blow-out risk where the car will dig in, spin and most probably roll."
Johnson said drivers should check loadings in their car's handbooks. A Volvo V70 estate offers 745 litres of space once the rear seats are folded, with a weight of 1,483Kg before fuel and occupants are added. Its maximum weight is 2,150Kg, allowing a "load", including fuel, passengers and luggage, of 667Kg.
Two average adults add 160Kg, plus around 30Kg for fuel, leaving room for 31 cases of wine at 15Kg a piece.
A typical load a family holiday for two adults and three children plus luggage adds up to nearer 540Kg. Just eight cases of wine would put it overweight.
Lamb said: "One driver rearended another at the Tunnel.
The car stopped, the driver stopped but the load in the back didn't and he found himself crushed against the steering wheel by 60 cases of beer and wine."
Regards
JD
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