7. The expert from Germany, co-Chair of the informal working group on pedestrian safety introduced the third progress report of the group (GRSP-52-31), the updated terms of references (ToR) and operating principles of the informal working group (GRSP-52-32) and a first draft UN GTR for information purposes only (GRSP-52-33). GRSP endorsed the third status report of the informal working group (GRSP-52-31), adopted its new terms of reference (GRSP-52-32) as reproduced in Annex II to this report and agreed to seek endorsement from WP.29 and from the Executive Committee of the 1998 Agreement (AC.3) at their March 2013 sessions.

7. The expert from Germany, co-Chair of the IWG on pedestrian safety introduced the draft UN GTR No. 9 Phase 2 (GRSP-54-33) to incorporate the flexible pedestrian legform impactor (FlexPLI), as a result of the last meeting of the IWG held on 16 and 17 December 2013, prior to the GRSP proper session. He explained that the proposal superseded ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2011/13, ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2013/25 and GRSP-54-08, leaving pending the issues of the Injury Assessment Reference Values (IARVs) for the flexible lower legform to bumper test (para. 5.1.1) and for the tolerance of the FlexPLI mass (paras. 6.3.1.1. and 6.3.1.1.3.). The proposal received comments from the expert of the United States of America (GRSP-54-32) who questioned the lack of information concerning the above-mentioned IARVs. He stated that the draft UN GTR could not be recommended unless Contracting Parties would be allowed to choose appropriate IARVs when transposing the UN GTR into their national legislations. In response, the expert from Germany introduced GRSP-54-33-Rev.2 addressing this concern. The expert from OICA regretted the lack of agreement on this last issue which would result in a number of options, thus hampering harmonization.

9. GRSP endorsed GRSP-56-39, but did not support GRSP-56-38. The secretariat was requested to distribute GRSP-56-39 with an official symbol for consideration at its May 2015 session. It was agreed that this proposal would be discussed further by the Contracting Parties under the 1998 Agreement and by GRSP at its next session as a full package with: (i) an updated draft proposal of Phase 2 of the UN GTR (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2014/15) and (ii) an updated final report of the IWG (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2014/16).

6. The expert from EC introduced GRSP-57-15-Rev.1, superseding ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2015/2, and proposing the introduction of the definition of rigid bumper beam in the test area in addition to the proposed bumper test method with the flexible pedestrian legform impactor (FlexPLI). The expert from OICA introduced GRSP-57-12, explaining that the new definition of the test area leads to test bumper surfaces at an angle greater than the justified 30°. He added that this might result in occurrence of total and relative rotation of the leg as well as sliding along the surface and produce non-repeatable data. The expert from the United States of America requested a study reservation on this proposal based on the above concern regarding the test tool’s repeatability at an impact angle of 30 degrees or higher. She announced that results of this research would be available at the December 2015 session of GRSP. The expert from Japan proposed to share data from his country to be included in the cost benefit analysis. GRSP agreed to resume discussion on this subject and on the pending issues of the proposal of amendments to the UN GTR (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2014/15, ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2014/16 and ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2015/2) at its December 2015 session.

8. The expert from EC clarified that ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2015/2, had been prepared by the experts of the Task Force on Bumper Test Area (TF-BTA) which is a subgroup of the IWG on Phase 2 of the UN GTR that would incorporate the flexible pedestrian legform impactor (FlexPLI). GRSP noted that once the issue of the Injury Assessment References Values (IARVs) for the flexible lower legform (FlexPLI) to bumper test would be agreed upon by GRSP on the basis of ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2015/2 to improve bumper test, the text would be incorporated into the draft proposal of UN GTR (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2014/15).

9. The expert from the Republic of Korea introduced a proposal of authorization to amend UN GTR (GRSP-59-16), to incorporate provisions for active deployable systems in the bonnet area. GRSP noted that the proposal would be preliminarily sent to AC.3 as an informal document to the June 2016 session of AC.3 aiming to its official adoption at the November 2016 session by the Committee. It was also agreed that the expert from the Republic of Korea would submit an official proposal of amendments to the December 2016 session of GRSP, amending the current text of the UN GTR (Phase 1) and the draft text of the Phase 2 of the UN GTR (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2014/15). GRSP noted that the proposed time schedule to finalization was tight (December 2017). The expert from the Republic of Korea proposed the establishment of a task force to develop the proposed amendments instead of an IWG. The expert from OICA recommended the participation of the experts of all the Contracting Parties to the 1958 and 1998 Agreements so that the group could develop a globally harmonized test procedure.

6. The expert from the United States of America announced that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) had agreed to accept Injury Assessment Reference Values (IARVs) to move Phase 2 forward and to incorporate the flexible pedestrian legform impactor (FlexPLI). He added that IARVs could change as a result of cost benefits analysis conducted during the adoption process of the GTR when transposed into the national legislation of Contracting Parties. Accordingly, he proposed GRSP-60-17 to amend Part A of the statement of technical rationale and to justify of ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2014/15. Moreover, he reported that his administration had not yet completed its cost-benefit analysis, but the United States of America New Car Assessment Programme was already using the FlexPLI and the new improved bumper test proposed by the Task Force on Bumper Test Area (TF-BTA) (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2015/2). He concluded that for the new proposed requirements for the head form tests (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2014/5) some more analysis would be needed.

7. Referring to the statement of the expert from the United States of America, GRSP noted that at its May 2017 session it would likely be in the position to recommend the Phase 2 of the GTR as a full package: ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2014/15, ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2015/2 and GRSP-60-17. The expert from the United States of America announced that a meeting of the IWG in Washington, D.C. would be scheduled at the beginning of 2017. Thus, GRSP recommended for its May 2017 session:

1. IWG to provide a final report of the development of Phase 2 (update of ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2014/16, fifth status report of the IWG),
2. IWG to finalise the analysis because the new headform test were incorporated as well (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2014/5) and
3. the secretariat to distribute GRSP-60-17 with an official symbol.

5. The expert from Germany informed GRSP that the IWG had planned to meet for the last time to move Phase 2 forward and incorporate the flexible pedestrian legform impactor (FlexPLI). GRSP agreed to resume discussion at its December 2017 session on a consolidated document provided by the IWG incorporating: (i) the draft amendment to the UN GTR on FlexPLI (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2014/15), (ii) the new improved bumper test proposed by the Task Force on Bumper Test Area (TF-BTA) (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2015/2) and (iii) the Injury Assessment Reference Values (IARVs)(ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2017/3). Moreover, the IWG would provide, at that time, a final report of the activities of the group based on ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2014/16. The Chair of GRSP offered to host the meeting of the IWG at its earliest convenience in Washington, D.C.

5. The expert from Germany, on behalf of the Chair of the IWG, informed GRSP that the group had met on 24 November 2017. As a result of this meeting, he was able to introduce the consolidated text of draft Amendment 2 to UN GTR No. 9 (GRSP-62-15-Rev.1), incorporating: (a) the flexible pedestrian legform impactor (FlexPLI) (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2014/15), (b) the new bumper test area (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2015/2) and the removal of the study reservation on the Injury Assessment Values (IARVs) (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2017/3). He also introduced the progress report of the IWG (GRSP-62-16) superseding ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2014/16. GRSP was not yet in the position to adopt the proposal and requested the secretariat to distribute GRSP-62-15-Rev.1 and GRSP-62-16 with official symbols for final review at its May 2018 session. Moreover, GRSP requested the IWG to draft Addendum 3 to Mutual Resolution No. 1 of the 1958 and the 1998 Agreements to provide drawings and technical specifications of the FlexPLI. GRSP also requested the IWG to liaise with the FlexPLI manufacturer to have free availability of the above-mentioned technical information. Finally, GRSP agreed to seek endorsement from WP.29 and the Executive Committee of the 1998 Agreement (AC.3) at their March 2018 sessions to extend the mandate of the IWG by one year.