Topic
Vehicle loading
Last updated
Vehicle loading covers carrying passengers, luggage, roof loads and trailers — how each affects the car’s handling, braking and the legal speed limits that apply when you are towing.
What’s tested
- Towing speed limits — 60 mph max on motorway and dual carriageway, 50 on single carriageway
- How a roof load raises the centre of gravity and reduces stability
- Securing passengers — child restraints by age and height
- Snaking trailers — how to recognise and recover
- Weight distribution within the vehicle and trailer
Key Highway Code rules
Try a real DVSA question
Practice question
From the DVSA question bank
How will a heavy load on your roof rack affect your vehicle's handling?
Show explanation
The correct answer is D.
A heavy load on your roof rack will reduce the stability of the vehicle because it moves the centre of gravity away from that designed by the manufacturer. Be aware of this when you drive round bends and corners. If you change direction at speed, your vehicle and/or load could become unstable and you could lose control.
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Common mistakes
- Loading a roof rack too high without rebalancing the load inside
- Accelerating into a snaking trailer (ease off the throttle instead)
- Allowing a child under 12 (and shorter than 135 cm) to travel without an appropriate child restraint
- Towing at 70 mph on a dual carriageway (the legal limit is 60)
Keep going
All 14 topics
- Alertness Staying focused: mirrors, observation, scanning the road, avoiding fatigue and distraction.
- Attitude Considerate driving: patience, following distance, behaviour at crossings and roundabouts.
- Safety and your vehicle Roadworthiness: brakes, tyres, lights, fluids, warning lights and securing the car.
- Safety margins Stopping distances, weather, road surface, and the space you need to react safely.
- Hazard awareness Anticipating risk: spotting clues, planning ahead, reading other road users’ behaviour.
- Vulnerable road users Pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, horse riders, children, older and disabled people.
- Other types of vehicle Sharing the road with lorries, buses, motorcycles, trams and emergency vehicles.
- Vehicle handling Driving in rain, fog, snow, dark and strong wind — how conditions change the car.
- Motorway rules Joining, lane discipline, speed, breakdowns and smart-motorway running lanes.
- Rules of the road Speed limits, junctions, roundabouts, parking, level crossings and one-way streets.
- Road and traffic signs The visual language of UK roads — shape, colour and meaning of every sign and signal.
- Documents Licence, insurance, MOT, V5C log book and SORN — the paperwork to be legally on the road.
- Incidents, accidents and emergencies First aid, CPR, AED, RTC procedure, breakdowns and tunnel safety.