Document identifies technical and drafting issues in UN R157 and its Global Technical Regulation equivalent requiring clarification or correction. Issues include:
Change request to establish a method to transfer vehicle control between the ADS and the user during the deactivation procedure. The ADS shall maintain safe control of the vehicle until the deactivation procedure is completed, gradually reduce its vehicle control action in response to the user assuming vehicle control, and may increase its control action if the reduction is leading to an unsafe vehicle response.
Change request to add new paragraph clarifying that an advance notification that the fallback user should prepare for a system-initiated deactivation shall not be considered as the start of the deactivation procedure. The existing text does not clearly define when a system-initiated deactivation procedure begins. Advance notification is a necessary tool to prepare the fallback user for re-engagement without prematurely starting the deactivation procedure.
Proposal to insert provisions requiring the ADS to terminate the deactivation procedure and execute a fallback to an MRC if the user is not suitably engaged after the time available for transition has expired, to permit the ADS to terminate the deactivation procedure and resume its previous operating state in the case of user-initiated deactivation instead of a fallback to an MRC, and to require the user be promptly informed that the deactivation process has been terminated and the reason for termination.
Change request to clarify ADS response to user-initiated deactivations. Proposes to amend para. 4.2.2.3.3 to specify that for ADSF-2 systems, deactivation procedures shall only be initiated if the ADS can assess the user to be available to assume the role of the driver according to fallback user provisions in para. 4/6.2.2.1.6 a), and to renumber para. 4.2.2.3.4 as para. 4.2.2.3.3.1. The original text could be misinterpreted as requiring the ADS to initiate deactivation whenever requested by the user.
Policy briefing addressing road traffic noise as a public health hazard and environmental concern. Documents adverse health effects of chronic noise exposure including cardiovascular disease, sleep disturbance, and cognitive impairment affecting over 100 million people. Identifies single-event noise exposures from modified combustion vehicles as disproportionately harmful drivers of citizen complaints. Warns that Enhanced Exterior Sound (EES) systems in electric vehicles replicate these harmful characteristics through high peak levels, steep onset rates, and prominent low-frequency tonal content. Recommends prohibiting EES designed to create sounds unrelated to safety, regulating Acoustic Vehicle Alerting Systems (AVAS) to minimum levels necessary for pedestrian safety while ensuring sound quality accessible to vulnerable populations, employing supplemental metrics beyond A-weighted averages to characterize harmful exposures, and making harm reduction an explicit objective of vehicle sound regulation.
Report of the 22nd session of TF-VS held on 1 September 2026. The session focused on cross-matrix activity for road traffic noise, with presentations on Swiss sound emission models sonROAD18 and NExUS developed by the Federal Office for the Environment. sonROAD18 is a general road traffic noise prediction model based on CNOSSOS-EU framework used for sound mapping in Switzerland since 2023. NExUS is a research model for comparing noise emissions of electric vehicles and internal combustion engine vehicles based on pass-by measurements. France, Sweden, Japan, Germany and The Netherlands proposed to present their own approaches at future sessions.
Agenda for the 23rd session of the Task Force on Vehicles Sound on 20 October 2026. The session will cover adoption of the agenda and report of the 22nd session, exchange of information on national and international requirements including presentations on quiet communities and noise sensitivity analysis, cross-matrix comparison of sound traffic modelling approaches with presentations on noise modelling and CNOSSOS-FR parameters, any other business, and arrangement of the next meeting in February 2027.