Results from a workshop on frontal impact robustness held in Tokyo, Japan on 4-6 November 2026. The workshop established a robustness concept: the vehicle’s ability to ensure effective protection for occupants across a representative range of characteristics (taking into account variations such as differences in shape, sex, weight and age), in relevant vehicle settings, and in representative real-world collisions (up to current regulatory severity levels). Human Body Models (HBMs) are noted as a promising complementary tool for evaluating robustness alongside ATD testing. The workshop ranked injury types by priority, including brain injuries, submarining, neck, chest, abdomen, lower extremities, and rear seat row protection. An action plan was developed to address brain injuries, submarining, rear seat row assessment, and robustness assessment methodology.

Workshop on equitable occupant protection addressing frontal impact safety. The document summarizes consensus from the 2025 Graz workshop on equity issues in frontal crashes, including higher injury risks for females in lower-speed crashes and at specific injury severity levels, age-dependent fatality risk variations, and injury pattern differences across body regions. Hypotheses for equity issues include occupant physiological characteristics, seatbelt and seat interaction, airbag interaction, and varying injury tolerances with age and sex. The Tokyo workshop aims to develop conceptual ideas for assessing robustness of occupant protection across human and crash-condition variability, define robustness, identify regulatory concepts to address equity issues, establish a roadmap of regulatory solutions, and create an action plan for highest-priority issues.

Document presents proposed text for Emergency Door Opening requirements to be discussed by Canada and Korea at the next EDO meeting. Proposals address owner’s manual provisions requiring detailed information on door opening and confirmation that the door opening system is intuitive and door handles are readily identifiable; secondary power supply requirements for latch release controls with warnings of failure; intuitiveness of latch release controls and door handles; replacement of the term ‘close vicinity’ with objective boundary criteria within the perimeter of the door frame; and inadvertent operation provisions for side doors with front-mounted hinges requiring interior door handles to be inoperative at vehicle speeds of 4 km/h or greater and provision of door closure warning systems.

Proposal to amend references to the Consolidated Resolution on the Construction of Vehicles (R.E.3) as document ECE/TRANS/WP.29/78/Rev.8, insert definitions regarding Software Identification Numbers, require manufacturers to provide information on software versions and system parameters to the Technical Service for approval tests, allow vehicle manufacturers to apply for new approvals to differentiate software versions for registered and new vehicles while avoiding duplication of tests, clarify that production is not deemed discontinued when obtaining extensions for software updates, and insert additional information paragraphs in Annexes regarding software identification and updates across UN R11, UN R12, UN R14, UN R16, UN R17, UN R21, UN R94, UN R95, UN R100, UN R127, UN R134, UN R135, UN R137, UN R145, UN R153, UN R173, UN R174, and UN R184.

The informal working group on Equitable Occupant Protection reviewed the status of five task forces addressing rear-end impact, virtual crash testing, frontal impact and restraint systems, and assessment of currently not considered injury types with high frequency and risk of permanent medical impairment. The group discussed robustness assessment for occupant protection, defined as the vehicle’s ability to protect occupants with variation of body height, weight, shape, physical constitution, and age in real-world relevant collisions. An upcoming workshop in Tokyo will develop conceptual ideas for assessing robustness by evaluating performance over a matrix of human and crash-condition variability, complementing current requirement-specific assessments based on anthropomorphic test devices, with status reports due December 2026 and final report December 2027.

Task force in-session amendments to the proposal to establish uniform provisions for approval of vehicles of category N₁Y regarding protection of fuel system integrity, protection against electrical shock, and vehicle crash compatibility. Requirements address liquid fuel leakage limits, compressed hydrogen storage system integrity including leakage rates and container retention, high voltage electrical system protection through absence of high voltage, low electrical energy, physical protection, or isolation resistance, electrolyte leakage limits for rechargeable energy storage systems, REESS retention, fire and explosion hazards, and crash compatibility criteria. Testing includes frontal collision per UN R94 or UN R137, lateral collision per UN R95, and rear-end collision per UN R153. Vehicles derived from approved N₁ types complying with specified series may demonstrate compliance through previous test results.

Proposal to establish a new UN Regulation for approval of vehicles of category N₁Y regarding fuel system integrity, electrical shock protection, and crash compatibility. The regulation specifies requirements for frontal, rear-end, and lateral collision tests based on existing UN Regulations (No. 94, 95, 137, and 153), with provisions for liquid fuel leakage limits, hydrogen fuel system integrity including shut-off valve closure and leakage rate limits, electrical protection from high voltage systems, REESS retention and fire hazard prevention, and crash compatibility criteria and values determined from longitudinal acceleration measurements.

Proposal to establish uniform provisions for type approval of vehicles of category N₁Y regarding fuel system integrity, electrical shock protection, and crash compatibility in frontal, lateral, and rear-end collisions. Requirements cover fuel leakage limits, hydrogen storage system integrity post-crash, high voltage electrical safety, REESS protection, and crash compatibility criteria. Tests reference UN R94, UN R95, UN R137, and UN R153. Vehicles derived from already-approved types may use previous test results if mass increase does not exceed 8 per cent. Approval marks and type approval procedures follow standard 1958 Agreement schedules.

List of documents for the eightieth session of the Working Party on Passive Safety scheduled for Geneva, 7–11 December 2026. Documents include proposals for:

• Amendment 3 to UN GTR 1,
• A new UN Regulation for M₂ and M₃ vehicles to prevent children being left inside,
• A 05 series of amendments to UN R11,
• A 02 series of amendments to UN R21,
• Supplement 4 to the 06 series of amendments to UN R22,
• A 06 series of amendments to UN R129,
• Supplement 2 to the 03 series of amendments to UN R134,
• Supplement 03 to the 01 series of amendments to UN R145,
• Supplement 1 to the 01 series of amendments to UN R170,
• A 02 series of amendments to UN R173,
• A new UN Regulation for category N₁ vehicles regarding fuel system integrity and crash compatibility,
• Supplement 3 to the original series of amendments to UN R42,
• Supplement 5 to the 04 series of amendments to UN R127,
• Amendments to UN Regulations Nos. 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 21, 94, 95, 100, 127, 134, 135, 137, 153, 173, 174 and 184.

Proposal to amend UN Regulations Nos. 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 21, 94, 95, 100, 127, 134, 135, 137, 153, 173, 174 and 184 to incorporate provisions related to RXSWIN in accordance with revision 8 of the Consolidated Resolution on the Construction of Vehicles (R.E.3). The amendments insert provisions regarding Software Identification Number definitions, manufacturer information requirements for approval tests, vehicle approval applications for software version differentiation, production discontinuation rules for software updates, and additional information on software identification and updates. Amendments are to enter into force in early 2028.

Work in progress clean draft proposal to establish a new UN Regulation on crashworthiness of vehicles of category N₁Y with regard to protection of fuel system integrity, protection against electrical shock and vehicle crash compatibility in the event of frontal, rear-end and lateral collision. The regulation applies to vehicles of category N₁Y and specifies test procedures for frontal, lateral and rear-end collisions based on UN R94, UN R95, UN R137 and UN R153. Requirements include fuel system integrity with no more than slight leakage or continuous leakage not exceeding 30 g/min, hydrogen leakage rate not exceeding 118 NL per minute, protection against electrical shock through absence of high voltage, low electrical energy, physical protection or isolation resistance, electrolyte leakage limits, REESS retention and fire hazard prevention, and crash compatibility criteria with Crash Compatibility Criterion not exceeding 40–45 g and Crash Compatibility Value not exceeding 100–120 gt.

This document is background material for the IWG EqOP workshop on equity issues in frontal crashes relevant for restraint systems scheduled for November 2026 in Tokyo. The workshop aims to draft conceptual ideas for a procedure to assess robustness by complementing current specific requirements based on ATDs using a more holistic approach. Robustness is defined as the vehicle’s ability to protect occupants of variation in body height, weight, shape, and seating position in real-world relevant collisions by maintaining structural integrity and effective safety systems. The reading list addresses field data, real-world needs, characteristics of frontal collisions, current regulations including UN R16, UN R94, UN R137, human body model readiness, injury prediction strategies, and regulatory solutions including Euro NCAP approaches, informed by GRSP-78-07.

Session report of WP.29 (World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations), its Administrative Committee of the 1958 Agreement (AC.1), Executive Committee of the 1998 Agreement (AC.3), and Administrative Committee of the 1997 Agreement (AC.4) held 23-26 June 2026 in Geneva. AC.1 voted on 92 amendments to existing UN Regulations, one corrigendum to UN Regulation No. 79, and three new UN Regulations (Nos. 184-186) on liquid hydrogen vehicle safety, automated driving systems, and tyre abrasion performance. AC.3 established UN GTR on automated driving systems and adopted corrigendum to UN GTR No. 9 and Amendment 2 to UN GTR No. 13. WP.29 extended mandates of several informal working groups and noted accession of Mongolia and Armenia to the 1958 and 1997 Agreements respectively.

Y-category vehicles are equipped with an Automated Driving System and not designed to carry occupants. They may develop aggressive front structures that could harm passenger cars in accidents. The proposal introduces the Occupant Load Criterium (OLC), derived from velocity-time graphs in crash tests, as a compatibility assessment criterion. OLC multiplied by vehicle mass indicates impact aggressivity. Data from ODB tests show OLC values range from approximately 22 to 35 g across various vehicles. The proposal suggests using a maximum OLC × mass value to prevent excessively aggressive vehicle front structures while keeping current passenger car designs unaffected.

Minutes of the 26th meeting of GRSP TF on AVRS held on Tuesday 22nd of May 2026 online. The agenda and previous minutes were approved. Status reports were received from other groups, with a closing meeting on ADS fitness expected in June. GRSP reviewed consistency of ADS fitness work and UN Regulation 137 sensor updates. EC presented updates on UN Regulation N₁Y and UN Regulation 127 pedestrian protection. OICA raised discussion on frontal test procedures in Annex 3 referencing UN Regulation No. 94 for vehicles with maximum mass not exceeding 2,500 kg and UN Regulation No. 137 for vehicles with maximum mass exceeding 2,500 kg and not exceeding 3,500 kg. No comments were received on passive safety requirements for ADS steering systems. Future meetings are scheduled for 1–5 June, 1st July, 4th September, 5th October, 27th November, 1st December, and 7–11 December.

The Informal Working Group on Emergency Door Opening (IWG-EDO) will develop amendments to UN Regulations Nos. 11 and 21 and request authorization to amend UN GTR No. 1 and UN GTR No. 14, with a draft for submission to GRSP’s 80th session. In a second step, it will develop amendments for further post-crash extrication requirements for UN Regulations Nos. 94, 95, 135 and 137 and UN GTR No. 1 and 14, with a draft for submission to GRSP’s 82nd session. The group will be chaired by Germany with the Republic of Korea as Vice-Chair and OICA providing the Secretariat.

The 25th session of the GRSP Task Force on Automated Vehicles Regulatory Screening (AVRS) was held online on 28 April 2026. The Task Force discussed regulatory frameworks for Y-category vehicles, including mass compatibility and crash test exceptions, and reviewed UN Regulation 127 on pedestrian protection for Y-category vehicles. The Task Force also addressed UN Regulation 12 feedback and identified minor mistakes in three proposals: ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2026/63, ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2026/65, and ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2026/71, which require corrections before submission to WP.29.

UN R21 requires the owner’s manual to contain clear instructions for power-operated window/roof panel/partition systems, including explanation of possible consequences, use of driver-controlled switches, and WARNING messages indicating dangers to children and requiring special care with remote closing systems. UN R173 references to Annex 9, paragraph 3 are unnecessary as this paragraph no longer exists in R173 but is now in UN R16 S10 Annex. UN R94 Annex 3 requires a line break.