This document is meant purely as documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
"BCOUNCIL DIRECTIVE
of 25 June 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)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
"M1 Commission Directive 79/1073/EEC of 22 November 1979 L 331 20 27.12.1979
"M2 Council Directive 82/890/EEC of 17 December 1982 L 378 45 31.12.1982
Corrected by:
"C1 Corrigendum, OJ L 226, 18.8.1976, p. 16 (74/347/EEC)1974L0347 — EN — 21.12.1982 — 002.001 — 1
COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
of 25 June 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 same
requirements either in addition to or in place of their existing rules in
order, in particular, to allow the EEC type-approval procedure which was
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 to the
type-approval of wheeled agricultural or forestry tractors to be applied 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 3and having at least two axles,
the main function of which lies in its tractive power and which is
specially designed to tow, push, carry or power certain tools, machinery
or trailers intended for agricultural or forestry use. It may be equipped to
carry a load and passengers.
2. This Directive shall apply only to tractors defined in paragraph I
which are equipped with pneumatic tyres and have at least two axles and
a maximum design speed of between 6 and 30 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 "M1
3windscreen 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 "M1
3windscreen wipers if these satisfy the requirements set out in the
Annex.!B
(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.!M2
!B1974L0347 — EN — 21.12.1982 — 002.001 — 2
!M1
Article 3a
1. With effect from 1 May 1980 no Member State may, on grounds
relating to the field of vision of tractors:
— refuse, in respect of a type of tractor, to grant EEC type-approval, to
issue the document referred to in the last indent of Article 10 (1) of
Directive 74/150/EEC, or to grant national type-approval,
— or prohibit the entry into service of tractors,if the field of vision of this type of tractor or of these tractors complies
with the provisions of this Directive.
2. With effect from 1 October 1980 Member States:— may no longer issue the document referred to in the last indent of
Article 10 (1) of Directive 74/150/EEC in respect of a type of tractor
in which the field of vision does not comply with the provisions of
this Directive,
— may refuse to grant national type-approval in respect of a type of
tractor whose field of vision does not comply with the provisions of
this Directive.
3. With effect from 1 January 1983, Member States may prohibit the
entry into service of any tractor whose field of vision does not comply
with the provisions of this Directive.
Article 4
The amendments necessary for adapting to technical progress the
requirements of the Annex shall be adopted in accordance with the
procedure 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 notification and
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 are
communicated to the Commission.
Article 6
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.!B1974L0347 — EN — 21.12.1982 — 002.001 — 3
ANNEX
FIELD OF VISION
DEFINITIONS AND REQUIREMENTS
1. DEFINITIONS
1.1. 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 referencepoint is situated in the plane parallel to the longitudinal median plane
of the tractor and passing through the centre of the seat, 700 mm
vertically above the line of intersection of that plane and the surface ofthe seat and 270 mm in the direction of the pelvic support from thevertical plane passing through the front edge of the surface of the seat
and perpendicular to the longitudinal median plane of the tractor
(Figure 1). The reference point thus determined relates to the seat whenunoccupied and fitted in the central position specified by the tractormanufacturer.
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 vertically
below 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, whilethe diameter bounding the semi-circle is at right angles to the
longitudinal axis of the tractor (Figure 2).
1.4. "
M1 Masking effect
‘Masking effect’ means the chords of the sectors of the semi-circle of
vision which cannot be seen owing to structural components such asroof-pillars, air intakes or exhaust stacks and the frame of thewindscreen. 3
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 of
which is 9.5m long, perpendicular to the plane parallel to the
longitudinal median plane of the tractor passing through the centre ofthe driver’ 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 fieldof vision, under all the usual conditions pertaining to highway use andto work undertaken in fields and forests. The field of vision is
considered adequate when the driver has, as far as possible, a view of
part of each front wheel and when the following requirements arefulfilled.!
B1974L0347 — EN — 21.12.1982 — 002.001 — 4
2.2. Checking of the field of vision
2.2.1. Procedure for determining masking effects
2.2.1.1. "M1The tractor must be placed on a horizontal surface as shown in
Figure 2. On a horizontal support level with the reference point, theremust be mounted two point sources of light, e.g. 2 × 150 W , 12 V , 65
mm apart and symmetrically located with respect to the reference
point. The support must be rotatable at its centre point about a verticalaxis passing through the reference point. For the purpose of measuringthe masking effects, the support must be so aligned that the line joining
the two light sources is perpendicular to the line joining the masking
component and the reference point.
The silhouette (deepest shadow) overlaps projected on to the
semi-circle of vision by the masking component when the lightsources are switched on simultaneously or alternately must be
measured in accordance with 1.4 (Figure 3). 3
2.2.1.2. "
M1Masking effects must not exceed 700 mm. 3
2.2.1.3. "M1Masking effects due to adjacent structural components over 80
mm in width must be so configured that there is an interval of not lessthan 2 200 mm — measured as a chord of the semi-circle of vision —
between the centres of two masking effects. 3
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 item
1.5.
2.2.1.5. "
M1Outside the sector of vision, masking effects exceeding 700 mm
but not exceeding 1 500 mm are, how ever, permissible if the
components causing them cannot be redesigned or relocated: on each
side there may be a total of either two such masking effects, one not
exceeding 700 mm and the other not exceeding 1 500 mm, or two suchmasking effects, neither exceeding 1 200 mm. 3
2.2.1.6. Blind spots caused by type-approved rear-view mirrors may be
disregarded if the design of these mirrors is such that they cannot be
installed in any other way.
2.2.2. Mathematical determination of masking effects for binocular vision:
2.2.2.1. "
M1as an alternative to the procedure set out in 2.2.1, the
acceptability of individual masking effects can be determinedmathematically. The requirements of 2.2.1.2, 2.2.1.3, 2.2.1.4, 2.2.1.5
and 2.2.1.6 shall apply in respect of the size, distribution and number of
the masking effects; 3
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:
v¼b/C065
a/C212 000 þ65
in which:
a is the distance in millimetres between the component obstructing
vision and the reference point measured along the visual radius
joining the reference point, the centre of the component and the
perimeter of the semi-circle of vision;
b is the width in millimetres of the component obstructing vision
measured 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 given
under item 2.2.2.
2.5. Transparent area of the windscreen
"M1For the purpose of determining the masking effects in the sector
of vision, the masking effects due to the frame of the windscreen and to
any other obstacle may, in accordance with the provisions of 2.2.1.4, be
considered as a single effect, provided that the distance between theoutermost points of this masking effect does not exceed 700 mm. 3!
B1974L0347 — EN — 21.12.1982 — 002.001 — 5
2.6. Windscreen wipers
2.6.1. Tractors f itted with windscreens must also be equipped with
motor-driven windscreen wipers and the area swept by these wipersmust ensure an unobstructed forward view corresponding to a chord of
the semi-circle of vision at least 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.
Figure 1!B1974L0347 — EN — 21.12.1982 — 002.001 — 6
!M1
Figure 21974L0347 — EN — 21.12.1982 — 002.001 — 7
Figure 3!B1974L0347 — EN — 21.12.1982 — 002.001 — 8