75. The Chair of GRSG presented two new UN Regulations, UN Regulation No. [166] on Vulnerable Road Users in Front and Side Close Proximity (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2022/139) and UN Regulation No. [167] on Vulnerable Road Users (VRU) Direct Vision (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2022/140/Rev.1). He highlighted that the proposal in document, ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2022/139 aimed to enhance driver awareness, e.g. with devices including mirrors and/or camera monitor systems, making that regulation technology neutral. For the document ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2022/140/Rev.1, he noted that the proposed new UN Regulation allows for better views on trucks to address the risks posed to VRUs. The World Forum considered the proposals under agenda items 4.13.1 and 4.13.2 and recommended their submission to AC.1 for voting.

76. The representative of the Republic of Korea made a statement regarding agenda item 4.13.1. He noted that the Republic of Korea was taking various measures to prevent traffic accidents involving vulnerable road users, such as lowering urban speed limits, enforcing drivers to make a full stop at a crosswalk regardless if pedestrians are present, and extending AEBS requirements to all vehicles including passenger cars.

77. He added that the proposal for the new UN Regulation was going to enhance drivers’ awareness of vulnerable road users at the front and sides of vehicles and it was anticipated to help reducing accidents involving pedestrians.

78. He further highlighted that, in a similar way, the Acceleration Control for Pedal Error (ACPE) proposed at the fourteenth GRVA meeting would help preventing accidents caused by drivers’ mistakes. He concluded that the Republic of Korea fully supported the proposal and was going to actively participate in the discussion group.

79. The representative of the European Union informed WP.29 that the European Union would not mandate UN Regulation No. [166] for the purpose of the EU whole vehicle type approval.

27. The expert from EC introduced, through a presentation (GRSG-123-30), the draft new UN Regulation No. XXX of VRU-Proxi on Direct Vision (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSG/2022/7 and GRSG-123-09 amending it). He underlined that the new draft UN Regulation would enhance the direct visibility of vulnerable road users from the driver seat, by reducing to the greatest possible extent the blind spots in front of and to the side of the driver. As a follow-up to the EC presentation, the expert from Germany remarked that driver’s behaviour and skills to judge critical situations without technical assistance is increasingly important since more than 90 per cent of road accidents are estimated to result from some level of human error. Therefore, he introduced GRSG-123-08, to ensure among others, that automated vehicles are equipped with the technology to support the driver especially during low-speed manoeuvres. The expert from AAPC endorsed, in principle, the proposal but suggested replacing the term “automated vehicle” with “VRU collision system”. The expert from the United States of America supported the proposal but suggested sending it to IWG on Functional Requirements for Automated Vehicles (FRAV) to verify the consistency with already defined terminology. The expert from the United Kingdom expressed concern for the late submission of the document introducing substantive changes to the draft UN Regulation and seemingly introducing alternative technology. He therefor suggested discussion of GRSG-123-08 at another stage. The expert from Germany suggested discussing the document with the Automated/Autonomous and Connected Vehicles Working Group (GRVA) to determine consistent definitions. The expert from EC replied that the approach proposed by GRSG-123-08 was not new and not endorsed by the majority of contracting parties because the IWG mandate was for a unique technology for direct vision. The experts from Denmark, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom supported the position of EC to adopt the draft UN Regulation and discuss GRSG-123-08 at the October 2022 session of GRSG. The expert from the Russian Federation assumed that the new UN Regulation would apply to large trucks and buses (M3 and N3 categories of vehicles) according to the design configuration of the vehicle. The expert from EC confirmed it and clarified that there were options and protocols for manufacturers to follow also for small buses and trucks (N1, N2, M1 and M2). The expert from OICA acknowledged the merit of the proposal. However, he pointed out the issue of lack of harmonization of the three-dimensional point machine to correctly implement the proposed UN Regulation. The expert from Sweden supported the draft new UN Regulation. However, in his view, application on long vehicles would be challenging particularly in view of the changes proposed in GRSG-123-08.

28. GRSG adopted ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSG/2022/7 as amended by annex VII to the session report. The secretariat was requested to submit the proposal as draft new UN Regulation No. XXX (VRU Direct Vision) to WP.29 and AC.1 for consideration and vote at their November 2022 sessions.

29. GRSG agreed to send GRSG-123-08 to IWG VRU-Proxi for further elaboration and resume discussion at its October 2022 session for possible amendments to the official proposal to WP.29 of new UN Regulation No. XXX (VRU Direct Vision).

30. GRSG agreed to send GRSG-123-25 and GRSG-123-26, tabled by the expert from Spain, to IWG VRU-Proxi for further elaboration.

32. The expert from the European Commission, from the IWG on VRU-Proxi presented documents GRGS-122-24 and GRSG-122-25-Rev.1, a proposal for a new UN Regulation on uniform provisions concerning the approval of motor vehicles regarding their direct vision. He explained the scope of this Regulation covers field vision for trucks and buses with an aim to improve direct vision and enhance direct visibility of pedestrians and cyclists by reducing to the greatest extent, the blind spot in front and to the side of the driver.

33. The expert from Germany commended the presentation from the European Commission and supported this proposal. The expert from Sweden expressed concerns on this proposal specifically relating to high-capacity transport vehicles.

34. The expert from OICA made extensive technical contribution to this presentation and proposed changes be made to impact the design of the cabs and highlighted that the proposal should take into consideration future design of cabs and not focus on current design. She emphasized that the text was not design and technology neutral and consideration should be given to other design possibilities and technological advancement. The expert from France supported the design neutral approach proposed by OICA however, he said consideration needs to be given to articles of the general safety Regulation therefor, this item be further discussed and reviewed in the taskforce.

35. The Chair of GRSG acknowledged the feedback and invited other Contracting Parties to study this proposal in-depth with an aim to give timely feedback to the IWG on VRU-Proxi to enable the IWG meet the deadline for submission for 123rd session of GRSG. GRSG considered document GRSG-122-24 and requested it be reviewed and presented as a formal document in the next session of GRSG for further discussion.