DIRECTIVE 96/27/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 20 May 1996 on the protection of occupants of motor vehicles in the event of a side impact and amending Directive 70/156/EEC
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 100a thereof,
Having regard to Council Directive 70/156/EEC of 6 February 1970 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the type-approval of motor vehicles and their trailers (1), and in particular Article 13 (4) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (3),
Acting in accordance with the procedures laid down in Article 189b of the Treaty (4),
Whereas the total harmonization of technical requirements for motor vehicles is necessary in order fully to achieve the internal market;
Whereas in order to reduce the number of road accident casualties in Europe, it is necessary to introduce legislative measures for improving the protection of occupants of motor vehicles in the event of a side impact as much as possible; whereas this Directive introduces side impact test requirements, including biomechanical criteria, to ensure that a reasonable level of side impact resistance is provided;
Whereas these requirements should be regarded as an interim measure and will need to be reviewed in the light of further research and experience gained during the first two years of type-approval tests carried out in accordance with this Directive; whereas the establishment of more stringent standards will ensure a higher level of safety in future;
Whereas this Directive will be one of the separate directives which must be complied with in order to ensure the conformity of vehicles with the requirements of the EC type-approval procedure established by Directive 70/156/EEC; whereas, therefore, the provisions of Directive 70/156/EEC relating to vehicle systems, components and separate technical units apply to this Directive;
Whereas the procedure for determining the seating reference point in motor vehicles is given in Annex III to Council Directive 77/649/EEC of 27 September 1977 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the field of vision of motor vehicle drivers (5); whereas it is therefore unnecessary to repeat it in this Directive; whereas reference should be made in this Directive to Council Directive 70/387/EEC of 27 July 1970 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the doors of motor vehicles and their trailers (6), Council Directive 74/483/EEC of 17 September 1974 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the external projections of motor vehicles (7), Council Directive 76/115/EEC of 18 December 1975 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to anchorages for motor-vehicle safety belts (8) and to ISO standard 6487:1987;
Whereas the technical requirements of this Directive are based on United Nations Economic Commission for Europe document TRANS/SC1/WP29/396,
HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Article 1
For the purposes of this Directive, 'vehicle` shall have the meaning given to it in Article 2 of Directive 70/156/EEC.
Article 2
1. No Member State may, on grounds concerning the protection of occupants of vehicles in the event of a side impact resistance:
- refuse, in respect of a vehicle type, to grant EC type-approval or national type-approval, or
- prohibit the registration, sale or entry into service of a vehicle,
if it complies with the requirements of this Directive.
2. With effect from 1 October 1998, Member States may no longer grant:
- EC type-approval for a vehicle type in accordance with Article 4 of Directive 70/156/EEC,
- national type-approval for a vehicle type,
unless the vehicle satisfies the requirements of this Directive.
3. Paragraph 2 shall not apply to types of vehicle which have been type-approved before 1 October 1998 in application of any two of the following Directives: 70/387/EEC (door latches and hinges), 74/483/EEC (external projections) and 76/115/EEC (anchorages for motor-vehicle safety belts) nor, where appropriate, to subsequent extensions to those type-approvals.
4. With effect from 1 October 2003, Member States must consider certificates of conformity which accompany new vehicles in accordance with Directive 70/156/EEC to be no longer valid for the purposes of Article 7 (1) of that Directive, if they do not certify that the vehicles conform to the requirements of the Annexes to this Directive.
Article 3
In Part 1 of Annex IV to Directive 70/156/EEC the table shall be supplemented as follows:
TABLE
Article 4
In the framework of the adaptation of this Directive to technical progress within two years from the date mentioned in Article 2 (2), a review shall be held by the Commission. It shall be based on a review of the technical criteria and, in particular, the viscous criterion, front seat position and the ground clearance of the barrier. The review criteria will include inter alia accident research data, full scale car-to-car test results and cost-benefit considerations. The review will examine the potential gains in passenger protection and the industrial feasibility of increasing the ground clearance of the barrier. The results of this review will be subject to a report from the Commission to the European Parliament and Council.
Article 5
1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 20 May 1997 at the latest. They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
When Member States adopt these provisions, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or be accompanied by such reference at the time of their official publication. The procedure for making such reference shall be adopted by the Member States.
2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the texts of the main provisions of national law which they adopt in the field governed by this Directive.
Article 6
This Directive shall enter into force on the 20th day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
Article 7
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Strasbourg, 20 May 1996.