According to the RA Law on Ensuring Road Traffic Safety, the maximum permissible mass of a vehicle is:

Explanation

The permissible maximum mass is the mass of the equipped and loaded vehicle together with the driver, passengers and cargo, in the amount the manufacturer has set as the maximum permissible.

Hold the three elements of this definition together: the vehicle in its complete, equipped state (with fuel, oil, tools and spare wheel), the human and goods load on it, and the authority that sets the figure, which is the manufacturer — not the driver, not the cargo owner and not the checking officer. The technical reason is clear: brakes, tyres, suspension and axles are designed and tested for a specific ceiling. Exceeding that ceiling lengthens the stopping distance, raises tyre and brake temperatures and increases the chance of an axle failing or a tyre bursting; hence the figure comes from the manufacturer, because only it knows how far the structure was tested.

This figure is not merely a technical specification; it is the legal boundary of many rules: signs restricting lorries over 3.5 tonnes, the split between categories B and C in licensing, and speed and access restrictions. Its value is written in the vehicle's technical document and has nothing to do with a personal sense of the load being "heavy". Do not confuse the permissible maximum mass with the actual momentary weight either; the first is a fixed ceiling and the second a varying figure at that moment.

• It removes the driver, the passengers and the determining authority (the manufacturer) from the definition and turns it into a vague weight. • It omits the element of the vehicle being "equipped/complete", whereas the manufacturer's ceiling is set for the complete vehicle with fuel and equipment.

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