good motoring
Hidden dangers of overloading

Once an aam admi owns a vehicle it must perform a multitude of tasks. It must move one, two and possibly four members of the family, even if it is a two-wheeler. A car is just one step short of being a bus or truck as necessity demands. A small Alto will have 6-7 people crammed in. It spells danger for all in the vehicle and those around.

To begin with, the handling dynamics will change. The braking will be the first to be affected. The steering, cornering and even straight line stability will be affected.

The child asleep on the dashboard is a sure invitation to disaster. Photo by the writer

A vehicle is designed and manufactured for a specific purpose. You can't push it much beyond those parameters.

Take our trucks for instance. A truck that is manufactured to carry a load of 3.5 tonnes ends up carrying upto 20 tonnes. The trucker adds a number of extra leaf springs, puts on stronger tyres and sets out to do business, quite confident he is going to make money by moving extra cargo in one go.

May be so for a short period but in the long run he is a loser. The wear and tear on the vehicle will be horrendous. The chassis will crack, the engine will wear out, it simply cannot cope with carrying 8-10 times the weight it was designed for. Tyre changes will be much more frequent as will be running repairs. The trucker had set out to make large profits, they will gradually dwindle. Soon he will be pumping good money after bad. Another fact.

The heavier the load, the higher the fuel consumption. A truck carrying 20 tonnes or more on a chassis an engine meant to carry 3.5 tonnes will give 2-3 km a litre not at all a cost effective move. The moral is, it does not pay to overload.

Overloading is also endemic in our personal and daily life. There was a very tragic accident recently. A young man was bringing home a quilt on a Honda Activa scooter. Foolishly he put it on the handle bars, rendering the steering useless. He could not turn the handle to negotiate a corner, rammed into something and killed himself.

It would have made more sense to bring it home in a rickshaw but the hero in him would not entertain such a practical thought. The accompanying photo shows everything that can be done wrong. The S.U.V. had about a dozen or more passengers. No one was wearing seat belts and to compound the foolishness, a child was in the lap of the passenger in the front seat. No seat belts. The child was asleep, face resting on the dash board, his head 12-20 cms from the windscreen. In case of an accident or even severe braking, the child would be a statistic.

Toyota, the world's leading car manufacturer because it is dedicated to make quality and safe cars has the following caution notice pasted on the driver side sun visor of the Fortuner regarding air bags, seat belts and sitting in a car. Ignoring these instructions, cautions Toyota, can result in serious injuries or even death.

Children 12 years and under can be killed by the air bag.
The back seat is the safest place for children.
Sit as far back as possible from the air bag.
Never put a rear facing child seat in the front.
Always use seat belts and child restraints.

Happy Motoring !

HOME