Lorry overloading is fairly widespread, and enforcement programmes have shown themselves to be largely ineffective. Road surfaces suffer, such vehicles are involved in a greater number of accidents than those loaded according to their specifications, and the accidents which occur are more likely to result in death. Less than 10% of developing countries have any effective weight control programmes for lorries. A major reason for the poverty of these programmes is that there is a complete absence of simple, reliable and inexpensive weighing equipment.