All courses › Car licence (class B) › Securing your load

Securing your load

A loose load keeps moving forward when the car brakes or crashes, and can hit you with great force. Put heavy items at the bottom and as far forward as possible in the boot, against the seat back, and strap them down. A load sticking out more than 1 metre behind the car must be marked. Newton's second law gives the force.

F = m \cdot a

the force the load pushes with

Symbols

$m$	mass of the load	kg
$a$	deceleration	m/s²

Example

A collision at 50 km/h can give a deceleration of about 200 m/s².

A 15 kg bag then pushes with $F = 15 \cdot 200 = 3000$ N, roughly as if it weighed 300 kg.

Do not leave heavy items loose on the parcel shelf or back seat. Use the boot and straps.

Practise the vehicle, load and trailer for free →

← Tyres and tread depth · How heavy a trailer may you tow? →

Part of Car licence (class B): The vehicle, load and trailer.