What are the penalties for overloading a minivan?
2 Answers
Driving a commercial passenger vehicle with more than 20% over the approved capacity will result in a 12-point deduction. Driving a commercial passenger vehicle with less than 20% over the approved capacity, or driving other passenger vehicles with more than 20% over the approved capacity, will result in a 6-point deduction. Driving passenger vehicles other than commercial passenger vehicles or school buses with less than 20% over the approved capacity will result in a 3-point deduction. For highway passenger vehicles carrying more passengers than approved, exceeding 20% of the approved capacity or carrying cargo in violation of regulations, a fine will be imposed.
Last time I took my family on a self-driving trip, we were caught for overloading – a painful lesson indeed. My 7-seater minivan was crammed with 9 people, and we were pulled over by traffic police as soon as we got on the highway. On the spot, I was deducted 6 points and fined 500 yuan. The most troublesome part was having the two extra passengers take a taxi separately. A special reminder: many intersections now have smart surveillance specifically targeting overloading. For commercial vehicles, it's even worse, with fines starting at 2000 yuan. Never take chances. After watching accident videos later, I realized that having one extra person can double the risk of casualties in a collision.
