Proposal to amend the scope and clarify the transitional provisions to avoid misinterpretations for the installation of side-facing seats in category M₃vehicles. The proposal exempts vehicles exceeding 10 tonnes from the prohibition on side-facing seat provided the seat meet conditions specified in the 03 series of amendments to the Regulation.

Proposal to amend the scope and clarify the transitional provisions to avoid misinterpretations for the installation of side-facing seats in category M3 vehicles. The proposal exempts vehicles exceeding 10 tonnes from the prohibition on side-facing seat provided the seat meet conditions specified in the 03 series of amendments to the Regulation.

UN R80, paragraph 7.4.4. specifies that passengers in side-facing seats “shall be safeguarded by a vehicle part (e.g. partition, wall or seat back of a forward-facing seat) forward of the foremost side-facing seat”. Germany has determined that the current text has been misinterpreted with regard to the intended requirement for a safety device that does not break and maintains its capability to retain a passenger’s body in the event of an accident. This proposal clarifies that such any such structure “shall retain its safeguard function during testing”.

Research has shown that dynamic testing under Appendix 1 is more demanding than the static testing under Appendix 5. As a result, approvals based upon static testing are not equivalent to approvals based on dynamic testing. This proposal, therefore, would delete Appendix 5. In addition, this proposal amends Appendix 1 by reducing the forward movement of the head of the manikin to 1.2 m in alignment with UN Regulation No. 14. Further, the proposal would limit the movement of the seat anchorages to 100 mm to ensure a minimum residual space for the passenger between the seats. Lastly, to ensure that seat fixations are reliably fastened after relocation, the proposal would require the necessary information to be marked directly on the seat and provided in the owner’s manual.

Presentation in support of the proposal to delete the static test procedure for seat strength (document GRSP-62-12) from UN R80.

Video clip use in study presentation.

Video clip use in study presentation.

Proposal to delete Appendix 5 and thereby end static testing as a compliance option. In addition, this proposal amends Appendix 1 by reducing the forward movement of the head of the manikin to 1.2 m in alignment with UN Regulation No. 14. Further, the proposal would limit the movement of the seat anchorages to 100 mm to ensure a minimum residual space for the passenger between the seats. Lastly, to ensure that seat fixations are reliably fastened after relocation, the proposal would require the necessary information to be marked directly on the seat and provided in the owner’s manual.

The video used during the presentation can be downloaded separately.

Proposal to delete Appendix 5 as a basis for type approval and thereby end static testing as a compliance option.

Proposal to amend Appendix 1 by reducing the forward movement of the head of the manikin to 1.2 m in alignment with UN R14. The proposal would also limit the movement of the seat anchorages to 100 mm to ensure a minimum residual space for the passenger between the seats. Lastly, to ensure that seat fixations are reliably fastened after relocation, the proposal would require the necessary information to be marked directly on the seat and provided in the owner’s manual.