The Children Left in Vehicles Informal Working Group holds its 19th session on 23 July 2026 from 17:00 to 19:00 Australian Eastern Standard Time online. The agenda includes feedback on drafting a UNR for light vehicles and consideration of a September face-to-face meeting in Paris.

The UN IWG for Children Left in Vehicles is in Phase 2 developing a new UN Regulation for vehicle categories M₂ and M₃. The draft UN Regulation includes requirements for visual and audible external warnings in buses and coaches to prevent children being left inside. The external warning shall be visual and audible, with the visual warning remaining on for at least 15 seconds then off for no greater than 30 seconds, repeating in cycles lasting no less than 10 minutes, using type approved direction indicator lamps all flashing with the same frequency. The audible warning shall remain on for at least 15 seconds then off for no greater than 30 seconds, repeating in cycles lasting no less than 10 minutes, and shall be greater than 60dB(A). Both warnings shall stop immediately after the physical inspection system is disarmed or the vehicle master control switch is turned on. The IWG intends to permit audible devices approved to UN Regulation No. 28 or UN Regulation No. 165 to generate the external audible warning.

Proposal to establish uniform provisions concerning the approval of M₂ and M₃ vehicles to assist in the prevention of children being left inside.

This regulation applies to Special Purpose Vehicles of Categories M₂ and M₃, class B and III designed specifically for the carriage of children. Vehicles shall be equipped with a physical inspection system engaged when the vehicle master control switch is turned off and disarmed via an inspection confirmation device located behind the rearmost passenger seat. An external visual and audible warning must be generated within 3 minutes for buses not exceeding 22 passenger seats, or within 5 minutes for buses exceeding 22 passenger seats, if the system is not disarmed. The visual warning shall remain on for at least 15 seconds, then remain off for no greater than 30 seconds, repeating in cycles lasting no less than 10 minutes. The audible warning shall be greater than 60 dB(A) with the same cycle requirements. Conformity of production procedures shall comply with Schedule 1 E/ECE/TRANS/505/Rev.3, with suitable controls checking dimensions and quality procedures.

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.

The agenda includes adoption of meeting minutes from the 5th EDO Meeting and two intermediate sessions, documents for WP.29’s 200th session requesting authorization to amend UN GTR No. 1 and 14, transformation to IWG with Terms of Reference and Rules of Procedure, amendments to UN Regulation No. 11 and No. 21, discussion of open items, and preparation of working documents for GRSP’s 80th session.

This document addresses terminology inconsistencies in UN R11 regarding emergency door opening. It proposes consistent use of entry or exit and occupant(s) versus passenger(s) in amendments without editorial changes to existing parts. Step-by-step checks of all parts of UN R11 are proposed for locking device terminology and latch release control terminology, with definitions for latch release control and door handle already available. For power supply terminology, a definition is needed, while power loss terminology should be retained.

The agenda includes a progress-dashboard review, an updated study presentation on rear row and abdominal injuries, and preparation for a Japan Workshop in Tokyo in November 2026, covering priority table alignment, robustness definition and alignment, workshop agenda, pre-workshop preparation, and practical arrangements.

Proposed prioritization framework for future frontal impact safety enhancements. A holistic assessment tool to evaluate candidate topics, identify regulatory gaps, and define priorities for future frontal impact requirements. Draft table template includes topics such as soft tissue neck, chest, abdomen, foot and ankle, hand and arm, submarining, rear seat row, driver seat, front passenger seat, low speed, robustness, multi-scenario testing, and virtual testing with human body model. The framework considers equity issues, relevance, current UN Regulations, available test and criteria, and identifies volunteers to prepare topics.

The EqOP-TF4 held its 5th meeting on June 25, 2026, with 41 participants. The agenda was adopted with one item removed, and previous minutes were approved. The chair presented an updated priority table assessing injury relevance, regulatory gaps, test capabilities, and potential safety benefits for prioritizing future frontal impact safety requirements. Japan will report on submarining and female injury patterns. A workshop is scheduled for November 4–6, 2026, in Japan. The next meeting is September 7, 2026.

Regarding buses and coaches scope, delegates supported defining school buses as Special Purpose Vehicles, enabling inclusion without creating a harmonized international category. Comments are due by 14 August. The draft light vehicle UN Regulation was uploaded for review with comments due before or during the September in-person meeting in France. An in-person meeting is scheduled for September 2026.

Workshop on frontal impact scheduled for Tokyo, Japan, 4-6 November 2026 will assess robustness, defined as the vehicle’s ability to protect occupants across variations in body height, weight, shape, and seating position in real-world collisions by maintaining structural integrity and effective safety systems. The workshop will explore conceptual ideas for procedures to assess robustness by complementing current specific requirements based on ATDs using a more holistic approach. Sessions will address issues requiring solution and regulatory solutions, including review of relevant regulations, clarification of roles of ATDs and HBMs, and conceptual ideas of future regulatory upgrades addressing brain injury, soft tissue neck injury, lower leg injury, thorax injury, submarining, abdominal loading injury, and lower severity collisions.

The agenda includes finalization of the proposal for a UNR on buses and coaches, feedback on the drafting of a UNR for light vehicles, and discussion of a September face-to-face meeting agenda.

The agenda for the 14th session of Task Force Virtual Crash Testing covers approval of agenda and minutes, review of a progress dashboard, and a proposal for virtual testing introduced by France. Discussion items include assessment of Human Model readiness at various timeframes and feedback from HBM4VT network stakeholders. The session concludes with next steps and scheduling.

The 14th EqOP Task Force Virtual Crash Testing meeting was held online on 13 April 2026 with 34 participants. France presented a proposal for an amendment to Resolution 3 to promote a transversal approach facilitating introduction of Virtual Testing as an optional alternative to physical tests in relevant regulations, with a workshop scheduled for 7 May 2026. A survey sent to HBM developers received 5 responses, which TU Graz anonymized into a table. The group proposed splitting implementation information into technical implementation of a metric into HBM and methods to use metrics for assessment of vehicles. The next meeting is scheduled for 11 June 2026.

The 15th EqOP Virtual Crash Testing Task Force meeting was held online on 9 July 2026 with 29 participants. An agenda item on Elemance and GHBMC was added and approved. A survey to HBM developers, structured on the MIRA board, was approximately 70% complete; results will be finalized and distributed. The group continued discussions on MIRA board readiness over different time horizons, incorporating survey input. Follow-up discussions are scheduled for 7 September 2026 in Munich and 30 September 2026.

Elemance, founded in 2014, distributes, maintains, and supports the GHBMC family of human body models for crash simulations. The Global Human Body Models Consortium consolidates worldwide HBM research and development into a single global effort to develop and maintain high-fidelity finite-element human body models. Elemance provides four occupant sizes in simplified and detailed versions, extensively validated through 250+ peer-reviewed publications and 100+ validation simulations. The models are widely adopted across 133 academic licenses and 41 commercial licenses, and have achieved Euro NCAP certification for occupant and pedestrian models.

Whiplash remains a major concern following rear-end collisions, which account for 27.8% of passenger vehicle crashes. Females face greater risk of long-term cervical spine injury than males. Females have less muscle strength, more slender necks, and lower tolerance limits for lower neck shear force compared to males. Only one rear impact dummy size, the 50th percentile male, is currently available. Dynamic testing reveals differences in responses between 50th percentile female and male dummies. Whiplash mitigation requires reducing occupant acceleration, minimising relative movements between vertebrae, and minimising forward rebound. The seat must be considered as a system; focusing on one component alone is inadequate. Preparation for a future 50th percentile female rear impact dummy is recommended, with new injury thresholds established.

Work-in-progress draft regulation to address the safety of children left in light vehicles, with changes to amend definitions of ‘Child’ or ‘Children’ to refer to individuals generally considered to be between 0 and 6 years old, replace “frequency” with “repetition rate” in warning requirements, and clarify system deactivation, warning delay, and internal visible warning procedures. The proposed regulation would cover vehicles of categories M₁ and N₁ with mass not exceeding 3,500 kg equipped with indirect sensing or direct sensing systems to detect children left unattended in vehicles.

The agenda includes Y-category regulatory framework new for N₁, Y-category pedestrian protection UN R127, UN R42 from informal document GRSP-79-11, UN R134 Y-category exclusion, any other business, and dates for next meetings on 5 October, November week 47, 24 November or 1 December, and 7-11 December at GRSP-80.

Proposal for 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 proposal would establish frontal impact requirements based on UN R94 or UN R137 at manufacturer’s choice in agreement with the designated technical service, lateral impact requirements based on UN R95 without side pole impact test, and rear impact requirements based on UN R153 without modification. Vehicles with maximum design speed not exceeding the applicable impact speed shall be tested at their maximum design speed and comply with post-impact requirements. Fuel system integrity, electrical shock protection from rechargeable energy storage systems, and crash compatibility requirements apply. Crash Compatibility Criterion shall not exceed 40 g and Crash Compatibility Value shall not exceed 100 g×tonne, determined according to Annex 3. Vehicles of category N₁Y derived from category X vehicles complying with UN R94 (05 series amendments supplement 2), UN R95 (06 series amendments supplement 2), UN R137 (04 series amendments supplement 1), and UN R153 (01 series amendments supplement 1) are deemed to meet all requirements.

Proposal to amend UN R11 to modify scope and definitions regarding vehicles of categories M₁ and N₁, introduce provisions for Automated Driving Systems, revise door operation requirements including exterior and interior latch release controls and door handles, add performance requirements for power-assisted systems and intuitive operation, amend provisions on door locks for side rear doors and back doors, include new definitions for latch release control, door handle, retractable door handle, unlock, unlatch, door opening, and power loss, add transitional provisions for the 05 series of amendments, and introduce new test procedures in Annex 7 for power loss events with interior and exterior door opening procedures requiring demonstration of door functionality within 60 minutes of power disconnection and at least five opening cycles. The amendments apply to supplement 3 of the 04 series for vehicles of category X and the 05 series of amendments to UN R11, based on justifications in GRSP-79-19 and GRSP-78-48.

The EqOP Task Force 2 met online on 29-30 June 2026 to discuss whiplash protection in vehicle seats. Presentations covered whiplash injury mechanisms, UN R17 evaluation, C-NCAP 2027 virtual testing plans, EvaRID and BioRID dummy comparisons, IIHS Rear Impact 2.0 protocol development, parametric seat modelling, and validation of a female SET 50F FE model. Discussions concluded that regulations should avoid sub-optimization toward single criteria, dynamic testing better represents real-world conditions, head-restraint positioning should not be considered misuse, and more forgiving seat designs are needed. The next meeting is scheduled for 28 September 2026.