1974L0347 — EN — 01.07.1974 — 000.001 — 1
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►B COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
of 25June 1974
on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the field of vision and
windscreen wipers for wheeled agricultural or forestry tractors
(74/347/EEC)
(OJ L 191, 15.7.1974, p. 5)
Corrected by:
►C1Corrigendum, OJ L 226, 18.8.1976, p. 16 (74/347)
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COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
of 25June 1974
on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to
the field of vision and windscreen wipers for wheeled agricultural
or forestry tractors
(74/347/EEC)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic
Community, and in particular Article 100 thereof;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission;Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament(
1);
Having regard to the Opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee(2);
Whereas the technical requirements with which tractors must comply
pursuant to national laws relate, inter alia, to the field of vision and
windscreen wipers;
Whereas these requirements differ from one Member State to another;
whereas it is therefore necessary that all Member States adopt the samerequirements either in addition to or in place of their existing rules inorder, in particular, to allow the EEC type-approval procedure whichwas the subject of Council Directive No 74/150/EEC (
3) of 4 March
1974 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating tothe type-approval of wheeled agricultural or forestry tractors to beapplied in respect of each type of tractor,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Article 1
1. ‘Agricultural or forestry tractor' means any motor vehicle, fitted
with wheels or ►C1endless tracks ◄and having at least two axles,
the main function of which lies in its tractive power and which isspecially designed to tow, push, carry or power certain tools, machineryor trailers intended for agricultural or forestry use. It may be equippedto carry a load and passengers.
2. This Directive shall apply only to tractors defined in the preceding
paragraph which are fitted with pneumatic tyres and which have twoaxles and a maximum design speed of between 6 and 25 km/h.
Article 2
No Member State may refuse to grant EEC type-approval or national
type-approval of a tractor on grounds relating to the field of vision orwindscreen wipers if these satisfy the requirements set out in the Annex.
Article 3
No Member State may refuse the registration or prohibit the sale, entry
into service or use of tractors on grounds relating to the field of visionor windscreen wipers if these satisfy the requirements set out in theAnnex.
(1) OJ No 28, 17. 2. 1967, p. 462/67.
(2) OJ No 42, 7. 3. 1967, p. 620/67.
(3) OJ No L 84, 28. 3. 1974, p. 10.
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Article 4
The amendments necessary for adapting to technical progress the
requirements of the Annex shall be adopted in accordance with theprocedure laid down in Article 13 of Directive No 74/150/EEC.
Article 5
1. Member States shall put into force the provisions necessary in
order to comply with this Directive within 18 months of its notificationand shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
2. Member States shall ensure that the texts of the main provisions of
national law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive arecommunicated to the Commission.
Article 6
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
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ANNEX
FIELD OF VISION
DEFINITIONS AND REQUIREMENTS
1. DEFINITIONS1.1.Field of vision
‘Field of vision' means all forward and lateral directions in which the
driver of the tractor can see.
1.2.Reference point
‘Reference point'means the position, fixed by convention, of the tractor
driver’s eyes notionally located at a single point. The reference point issituated in the plane parallel to the longitudinal median plane of thetractor and passing through the centre of the seat, 700 mm verticallyabove the line of intersection of that plane and the surface of the seatand 270 mm in the direction of the pelvic support from the verticalplane passing through the front edge of the surface of the seat andperpendicular to the longitudinal median plane of the tractor (Figure 1).The reference point thus determined relates to the seat when unoccupiedand fitted in the central position specified by the tractor manufacturer.
1.3.Semi-circle of vision
‘Semi-circle of vision'means the semi-circle described by a radius of 12
m about a point situated in the horizontal plane of the road verticallybelow the reference point, in such a way that, when facing the directionof motion, the arc of the semi-circle lies in front of the tractor, while thediameter bounding the semi-circle is at right angles to the longitudinalaxis of the tractor (Figure 2).
1.4.Masking effect
‘Masking effect' means the chords of the sectors of the semi-circle of
vision which cannot be seen owing to structural components, e.g., roofpillars.
1.5.Sector of vision
‘Sector of vision' means that part of the field of vision bounded:
1.5.1. at the top,
by a horizontal plane passing through the reference point;
1.5.2. in the plane of the road,
by the zone lying outside the semi-circle of vision, and forming the
continuation of the sector of the semi-circle of vision, the chord ofwhich is 9 ·5 m long, perpendicular to the plane parallel to the longitu-
dinal median plane of the tractor passing through the centre of thedriver’s seat and bisected by that plane.
1.6.Swept area of the windscreen wipers
‘Swept area of the windscreen wipers' means the area of the outer
surface of the windscreen swept by the windscreen wipers.
2. REQUIREMENTS
2.1.General
The tractor shall be constructed and equipped in such a way that, in road
traffic and in farm and forest use, the driver has an adequate field ofvision, under all the usual conditions pertaining to highway use and towork undertaken in fields and forests. The field of vision is consideredadequate when the driver has, as far as possible, a view of part of eachfront wheel and when the following requirements are fulfilled.
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2.2.Checking of the field of vision
2.2.1. Procedure for determining masking effects2.2.1.1. The tractor must be placed on a horizontal surface as shown in Figure 2.
On a horizontal support level with the reference point, there must bemounted two point sources of light 65 mm apart and symmetricallymounted about the reference point. The support must be rotatable at itscentre point about a vertical axis passing through the reference point.For the purpose of measuring the masking effects, the support must beso aligned that the line joining the two light sources is perpendicular tothe line joining the masking component and the reference point. Thesilhouette overlaps projected onto the semi-circle of vision by themasking component as a result of switching on the light sources alter-nately must be recorded in accordance with item 1.4 (Figure 3).
2.2.1.2. Masking effects must not exceed 600 mm.2.2.1.3. Masking effects due to adjacent structural components over 80 mm in
width must be positioned in such a way that the line joining the centresof the invisible chords of the sectors of the semi-circle of vision is notless than 2 ·50 m in length.
2.2.1.4. There may be no more than six masking effects in the semi-circle of
vision and no more than two inside the sector of vision defined in item1.5.
2.2.1.5. Masking effects exceeding 600 mm but not exceeding 1 200 mm are,
however, permissible if the components causing them cannot be rede-signed or relocated. There must be no more than two such maskingeffects and these must lie outside the sector of vision.
2.2.1.6. Blind spots caused by type-approved rear-view mirrors may be disre-
garded if the design of these mirrors is such that they cannot be installedin any other way.
2.2.2. Mathematical determination of masking effects for binocular vision:
2.2.2.1. as an alternative to the procedure set out in item 2.2.1, the acceptability
of individual masking effects can be determined mathematically. Therequirements of items 2.2.1.3, 2.2.1.4, 2.2.1.5 and 2.2.1.6 shall apply inrespect of the size, distribution and number of the masking effects;
2.2.2.2. for binocular vision with an inter-ocular distance of 65 mm, the masking
effect expressed in mm is given by the formula:
v=
b−65
a×1 20 0 0+6 5
in which:
a is the distance in millimetres between the component obstructing
vision and the reference point measured along the visual radiusjoining the reference point, the centre of the component and theperimeter of the semi-circle of vision;
b is the width in millimetres of the component obstructing vision meas-
ured horizontally and perpendicular to the visual radius.
2.3. The test methods referred to under item 2.2 may be replaced by others if
the latter can be shown to be equivalent.
2.4. Where, in the case of masking effects, Article 8 (3) of Directive No
74/150/EEC is to be applied, the procedure used shall be that givenunder item 2.2.2.
2.5.Transparent area of the windscreen
If the tractor is fitted with a windscreen, the transparent area thereof
must be such that the requirements of item 2.2 are satisfied.
2.6.Windscreen wipers
2.6.1. Tractors fitted with windscreens must also be equipped with motor-
driven windscreen wipers and the area swept by these wipers mustensure an unobstructed forward view corresponding to a chord of thesemi-circle of vision at leas t 8 m long within the sector of vision.
2.6.2. The rate of operation of the windscreen wipers must be at least 20
cycles per minute.
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Figure 1
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Figure 2
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Figure 3