Most things in this country are not directly and explicitly stated in laws. Laws are written that allow other people to form committees and create regulations. Agencies responsible for enforcing regulations then interpret those regulations and create guidelines to be used by the actual people who provide enforcement. Then someone is charged under these regulations. Then it goes to court and a judge decides what those regulations mean under some set of circumstances. These regulations are tested and interpreted many times in the courts and many levels within the courts and a body of understanding becomes understood with the enforcement and court system. That is called settled law. This can lead to new agency guidelines. etc.
So yes, you may rationalize your understanding to the police and the judge. Good luck with that.
Oh, and first hand reports are not rumors. Yes, my statement is hearsay, second hand. Yes you are free to believe or not believe these reports or my hearsay. It's your choice. A great deal of life comes down to rational reasoning and confirming facts. That's up to you. Just calling stuff rumors to discredit them can equally be tossed off as simple convenient rationalization to engage in risky anti-social behavior, or more simply as ignorant denial. An increasingly common affliction.
I suggest we skip the false nasty rhetoric and have a rational open discussion.
I also suggest that encouraging others to engage in risky behavior is not really a good thing to do. There are real good reasons that we DO HAVE these ratings, laws, and regulations, and why GVWR, GCWR-R, and GAWR-F are on our vehicles, and why other ratings are published. They were in fact not put out there for their entertainment value. But hey, that would be rational reasoning based on observable facts. Are things always explicitly clear in our society? Sometimes;yes. Always, absolutely not. Can a rational honest person usually figure out what the purpose and meaning of these standards and regulations. Sure, it's not that complicated. Overweight vehicles created increased risk of wear and tear on vehicles, increased accidents rates, and increased injury and death rates. Is any one person guaranteed to suffer these losses due to being overweight? No. Nor is anyone guaranteed to not suffer injury by remaining within the regulations. It's all about dramatically increased risk to yourself and all those people around you. A risk which does clearly demonstrate itself as increased rates of injury and death. I don't personally know of anyone who has died of carbon monoxide poisoning or home fire. Yet it still happens far too many times a year. .