Archive

Apr 2017

Expanded ECE Requirements on Safety Belt Reminder Fitment Proposed

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN ECE) Regulation No. 16 on safety belts and restraints systems currently mandates the fitment of a safety belt reminder system to the driver’s seating position of M1 category vehicles, i.e. passenger cars and multipurpose passenger vehicles with less than 10 seats. However, in an attempt to improve safety belt usage rates, an 07 series of amendments to UN ECE Regulation No. 16 was recently adopted by the World Forum for Harmonisation of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) which extends the mandatory safety belt reminder system fitment requirements to other seating positions and to other categories of vehicle.

Mar 2017

European Commission Guidance Document on "Defeat Devices" Published

To address the highly publicised "emissions scandal", the European Commission have instigated a number of changes to the European Union's legal requirements on emissions over the past 18 months. The latest of these is a Commission Notice, which was published on 26th January 2017, providing guidance to the European Type Approval Authorities on the measures that they should be implementing to ensure that they identify the presence of potential "defeat devices".

Feb 2017

EU Regulation on the Technical Requirements for eCall Systems Published

Following the publication of EU Regulation No. 2015/758, which mandated the fitment of in-vehicle eCall systems to all new types of M1 and N1 category vehicle from 31st March 2018, the European Commission have now published the Delegated Regulation specifying the technical requirements that in-vehicle eCall systems must comply with. This new Delegated Regulation, (EU) 2017/79, was published on 17th January 2017 and specifies detailed technical requirements and associated test procedures to ensure that eCall systems operate correctly in a variety of vehicle impact scenarios whilst respecting data protection and privacy requirements.

Jan 2017

NHTSA Issues Final Rule to Reduce the Risk of Pedestrian Crashes by Establishing Minimum Sound Requirements for Electric and Hybrid Vehicles

Listen for those electric and hybrid vehicles -- soon to be heard. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued a Final Rule on December 14, 2016 requiring electric and hybrid passenger cars/light trucks and low speed vehicles to emit a sound under certain conditions and meeting specific requirements. This action was taken to assist in alerting blind and other pedestrians of the presence of electric and hybrid vehicles operating at lower speeds. These requirements are effective February 13, 2017 and are required to be phased in starting September 1, 2018 with 100% compliance starting September 1, 2019.

Dec 2016

New UN ECE Regulations Created Due to "Splitting" of Existing Regulations

At their 169th session, the World Forum for Harmonisation of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29), formally adopted three new United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN ECE) Regulations; ECE Regulation No. 139 on brake assist systems (BAS), ECE Regulation No. 140 on electronic stability control (ESC) systems and ECE Regulation No 141 on tyre pressure monitoring systems (TPMS). These new Regulations have been created by extracting the requirements on these systems from ECE Regulation No. 13H on braking and ECE Regulation No. 64 on temporary use spare units, run flat tyres and run flat systems.

Nov 2016

Further Draft European Union Regulation on Real Driving Emissions Published

At a Technical Committee - Motor Vehicles (TCMV) meeting on 3rd October 2016, the European Commission presented their first draft of the "third package" of requirements on light duty vehicle real driving emissions (RDE). This draft proposes a number of new and revised requirements on RDE testing, including extending the requirements to cover the measurement of particulate number (PN) emissions during RDE testing, revising the emissions evaluation to include the "cold start" emissions measurements, revising the treatment of periodically regenerating emissions control devices and introducing requirements to allow for the testing of hybrid vehicles.

Oct 2016

USDOT and NHTSA Issue Federal Automated Vehicles Policy - Accelerating the Next Revolution in Roadway Safety

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued the long-awaited guidance document covering usage of automated/autonomous vehicles on the nation's highways. The document was released September 20, 2016 and covers four main categories: Vehicle Performance Guidance for Automated Vehicles; Model State Policy; NHTSA's Current Regulatory Tools; and New Tools and Authorities. It provides the agencies' positions, plans and requests for feedback from manufacturers, academia, safety advocates and the general public.

Sep 2016

ECE Regulation on Rear Vision Updated to Permit Camera Based Systems

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN ECE) Regulation on indirect vision requirements, ECE 46.04, has recently been amended to allow the fitment of camera based vision systems in place of the mandatory rear view mirrors. These amended requirements were published as Supplement 2 to ECE 46.04 and have an entry into force date of 18th June, 2016, which means that camera vision system manufacturers and vehicle manufacturers can obtain type approval for camera based vision systems and their installation with immediate effect.

Aug 2016

Draft EU Regulation on Acoustic Vehicle Alerting Systems (AVAS) Published

Acoustic vehicle alerting systems (AVAS) are sound generating systems fitted to pure electric and hybrid electric vehicles. Their purpose is to generate sound when the vehicle is operating at low speed to alert pedestrians and other vulnerable road users of the vehicle's presence in urban situations, and a new ECE Regulation covering such systems was recently adopted by the World Forum for the Harmonisation of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29). Following the adoption of this new UN ECE Regulation (ECE 138), the European Commission have drafted an amendment to the EU Regulation on sound levels, (EU) No. 540/2014, to align the EU requirements on AVAS with those specified in ECE 138.

Jul 2016

NHTSA Issues Final Rule to Standardize Lighting and Marking Requirements for Agricultural Equipment in US

The National Highway Transportation Association (NHTSA) has issued a rare Final Rule regarding agricultural equipment. NHTSA has not regulated the manufacture of most agricultural equipment in the past because it did not have specific authority to do so. Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) contains a non-discretionary mandate concerning daytime and nighttime visibility of agricultural equipment that may be operated on public roads. As a result, NHTSA has issued a new regulation, 49 CFR Part 562 Lighting and Marking on Agricultural Equipment effective June 22, 2016 with a compliance date of June 22, 2017.