Does a Child Count Towards Overloading in a Car?
2 Answers
If a car exceeds the approved number of passengers, taking a child along is considered overloading. Here are some relevant details about overloading: 1. Hazards: Overloading significantly contributes to traffic accidents. Due to overloading, the vehicle's control ability is reduced, making it more prone to accidents. Additionally, overloading damages roads and affects vehicle speed. Some overloaded vehicles can only crawl at speeds of 10-20 kilometers per hour, greatly diminishing the efficiency of road transport and reducing vehicle transportation efficiency. 2. Penalties for Overloading: Driving a commercial passenger vehicle exceeding the approved number of passengers by more than 20% results in a 12-point penalty; driving a commercial passenger vehicle exceeding the approved number by less than 20%, or driving other passenger vehicles exceeding the approved number by more than 20%, results in a 6-point penalty. Driving passenger vehicles other than commercial passenger vehicles or school buses exceeding the approved number by less than 20% results in a 3-point penalty.
As a driver with over 10 years of experience, I'd like to share a lesson I learned the hard way. Once during a family trip, we squeezed 5 people into a car rated for 5 passengers, including two children. I thought kids wouldn't count since they're small, but we got fined during a police check. The officer explained that regardless of size, every child counts as a full passenger - overloading is overloading. This is because overloaded vehicles have longer braking distances and higher rollover risks, especially when children aren't properly secured in safety seats. Since that incident, I strictly adhere to passenger limits, ensuring every child has their own seat and proper restraint. Road safety isn't about taking chances - especially with kids onboard, we must always maintain proper spacing to prevent tragedies.
