Comments in support of the proposal to introduce provisions for fire-suppression systems under UN R107.
6. The expert from Sweden gave a presentation (GRSG-107-32) justifying the amendments list in GRSG-107-25 to ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSG/2014/6 on the subject of introducing fire suppression systems for buses and coaches. GRSG noted GRSG-107-13, tabled by the expert from Germany, proposing to limit the mandatory fitting of fire suppression systems to buses of category M3, Class III only. The expert from the Netherlands expressed concerns on safety and fire risks of all categories of buses and coaches using Natural Gas (NG) and/or hydrogen in their propulsion system. Thus he introduced GRSG-107-33 to complement the proposal from Sweden and cover all categories of NG and/or Hydrogen-fuelled vehicles. The experts from France, Poland, Russian Federation, Switzerland and Turkey also preferred to cover all Classes while the experts from Italy and the Czech Republic endorsed the proposal from Germany. The expert from EC noted that the proposal would imply relevant costs for the industry and that this aspect should be further explored. The expert from OICA argued that the proposal from Sweden was outside the scope of UN Regulation No. 107 and listed a series of concerns in GRSG-107-14 proposing, amongst others, the optional installation of the fire suppression system. Finally, GRSG agreed to resume consideration on this subject at its May 2015 session and invited interested experts to send their comments to the expert from Sweden in due time to allow him to submit a revised official proposal, taking into account the possibility of a new specialized regulation.
GRSG-107-25 |