This informal group was mandated in September 2014 to develop a UN Regulation on quiet road transport vehicles in parallel with the effort to establish a Global Technical Regulation on the same subject. Quiet road transport vehicles are those vehicles that generate significantly lower noise such that they can be difficult for pedestrians, cyclists, and other vulnerable road users to detect amid ambient noise.
This group is focused initially on light vehicles (M and N categories) operating in electric mode, but may extend its scope in future work. The aim is to develop uniform test procedures to validate the effectiveness of audible systems in alerting vulnerable road users to the presence and trajectory of such motor vehicles.
Basing its effort on previous work done by the QRTV informal group and the QRTV GTR informal group, this group expects to submit an initial text during the January 2015 session of the Working Party on Noise (GRB) followed by a formal text for approval at the September 2015 GRB session. This schedule would suggest a possible adoption of a new regulation by the World Forum at its June 2016 session.