•ir tSr COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Brussels, 02.10.1995 
COM(95)454 final 
94/0322 (COD) 
Amended proposal for a 
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 
RELATING TO THE SIDE-IMPACT RESISTANCE OF MOTOR VEHICLES AND 
AMENDING DIRECTIVE 70/156/EEC 
(presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 189 a (2) 
of the EC-Treaty) 

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 
On 13 December 1994, the Commission sent to the Council a proposal for a new directive 
introducing measures to improve the side impact resistance of motor vehicles, amending 
also Directive 70/156/EEC (COM(94)519 of 13 December 1994). 
On 12 July 1995, the European Parliament approved the proposal in the first reading, 
subject to 11 amendments. The Commission has accepted all but one of the proposed 
amendments subject to certain drafting changes. 
The substance of the amendments is the deletion of the two-stage approach, proposed by 
the Commission (in which the severity of the test was increased in phases by raising the 
ground clearance of the impacting barrier from 260 to 300 mm), in favour of the 
immediate adoption of the more severe test in October 1998. The Commission, having 
taken soundings with interested parties, can accept this approach since it ensures a 
parallelism with the introduction of the new Directive on frontal impact and because it is 
possible industrially to ensure the earlier introduction date than foreseen in the second 
stage of the original proposal. 
Amendment 7a. relating to the position of the seat in the test, cannot be accepted because 
of the need to allow the Technical Service responsible for the test the possibility to specify 
a different position. This would avoid the risk that padding might be used to protect just 
one position or that potentially harmful equipment inside the door might be sited away 
from that position, simply to comply with the test requirements in the single position. 
Amendment 10. which extends the footnote already amended by 7b, is incompatible with 
7a. Since the Commission cannot accept Amendment 7a (see above), there is no longer a 
need to extend the footnote. (Amendments 7 and 10 are mutually inconsistent but both 
were adopted by Parliament). 
Amendment 5. relating to the wording of Article 4 in respect of a future review of the test 
requirements, has been accepted in principle. The commitment to a specific future barrier 
height of 350 mm is, however, unacceptable. Whilst the Commission accepts and 
supports the principle that the effects of this legislation on road safety should be examined 
and, if necessary, the future severity of the test increased, it is opposed to inclusion of 
such a specific parameter since it would: 
pre-judge the outcome of the review and 
create de facto a second standard in the market place. 
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All remaining amendments of the Parliament can be accepted and have been incorporated 
in the amended proposal of the Commission, subject to improvements in the drafting and 
layout. 
Opportunity has been taken to include the text for Addendum 2 of Appendix 1 of 
Annex II, in respect of the calculation of the viscous criterion. 
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Amended proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and the Council 
relating to the side-impact resistance of motor vehicles and amending Directive 70/156/EEC 
ORIGINAL TEXT AMENDED TEXT 
Article 2 (2) 
2. With effect from 1 October 1995 
Member States: 
shall not grant EEC type-
approval in accordance with 
Article 4 of Directive 
70/156/EEC, and 
may refuse to grant national 
type-approval, 
unless the vehicle type satisfies the 
requirements of this Directive. With effect from 1 October 1998 
Member States: 
shall not grant EEC type-
approval in accordance with 
Article 4 of Directive 
70/156/EEC, and 
may refuse to grant national 
type-approval, 
unless the vehicle type satisfies the 
requirements of this Directive. 
Article 2 (3) 
Paragraph 2 shall not apply to 
vehicle types approved before 
1 October 1995 pursuant to any 
two of the following directives: 
Directive 70/387/EEC (latches 
and hinges), Directive 
74/483/EEC (exterior projections) 
and Directive 76/115/EEC (seat 
belt anchorages) and, where 
applicable, subsequent extensions 
to these approvals Paragraph 2 shall not apply to 
vehicle types approved before 
1 October 1998 pursuant to any 
two of the following directives: 
Directive 70/387/EEC (latches 
and hinges), Directive 
74/483/EEC (exterior projections) 
and Directive 76/115/EEC (seat 
belt anchorages) and, where 
applicable, subsequent extensions 
to these approvals. 
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Article 2 (4) 
4. With effect from 1 October 2000 
Member States shall 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 the requirements 
of this Directive are not fulfilled. With effect from 1 October 2003 
Member States shall 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 the requirements 
of this Directive are not fulfilled. 
Article 3 (2) 
Annex IV to Directive 70/156/EEC is 
hereby amended as follows. 
1. In Part I the following item is 
added: 
"54. Side-impact resistance 
95/.../EEC L... x—x " Annex IV to Directive 70/156/EEC is 
hereby amended as follows: 
In Part I the following item is added: 
"54. Side-impact resistance 
95/.../EEC L... x—x " 
2. In Part II the following item is 
added: 
"54. Side-impact resistance 
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Article 4 
In the framework of the adaptation 
of this Directive to technical 
progress, a second stage shall be 
adopted by the Commission. It 
shall be based on a review of the 
technical criteria and in particular 
the viscous criteria, front seat 
position and the ground clearance 
of the barrier. The review criteria 
will include inter alia accident 
statistics, accident research data, 
full scale car-to-car test results, 
experience gained from approval 
tests and cost-benefit 
considerations. Notwithstanding 
the above, the ground clearance of 
the barrier shall be increased to 
300 mm, unless the review 
demonstrates that a different 
barrier height would provide an 
equivalent level of protection. 
This second stage shall be 
applicable at the request of 
manufacturers on an optional 
basis from 1 January 1998 and 
shall be mandatory for new vehicle 
types approved from 1 October 
2001 . 
This second stage will be 
applicable to all new vehicles from 
1 October 2004, subject to a 
report from the Commission to the 
European Parliament and Council 
to be made no later than 1 October 
2002 on the operation of the 
Directive and the industrial 
fcasibi'ity of the above date. 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. 
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Article 5(1) 
Member States shall bring into 
force the laws, regulations and 
administrative provisions 
necessary to comply with this 
Directive before 1 October 1995. 
They shall forthwith inform the 
Commission thereof. Member States shall bring into 
force the laws, regulations and 
administrative provisions 
necessary to comply with this 
Directive before 1 October 1996. 
They shall forthwith inform the 
Commission thereof. 
Annex II - Paragraph 3.1.2 - Footnote 
(1) Until 30 September 1998, for the 
purposes of the test requirements, the 
range of normal longitudinal adjustments 
shall be limited such that the H-point lies 
within the length of the door aperture. (1) Until 30 September 2000. for the 
purposes of the test requirements, the 
range of normal longitudinal adjustments 
shall be limited such that the H-point lies 
within the length of the door aperture. 
Annex II - Appendix 2 
2.1.3 The ground clearance of the 
collision zone shall be 260 
mm ± 5 mm measured in 
static condition before 
impact, subject to the 
provisions of Article 4 of 
this Directive. Paragraph 2.1.3 
2.1.3 The ground clearance of the 
collision zone shall be 300 
mm ± 5 mm measured in 
static condition before 
impact, subject to the 
provisions of Article 4 of 
this Directive. 
Annex II - Appendix 2 - Figure 1 
Ground clearance = 260 mm Ground clearance = 300 mm 
Annex II - Appendix 1 - Addendum 2 (New Text) 
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"PROCEDURE FOR CALCULATING THE VISCOUS CRITERION (V*C) FOR SIDE 
IMPACT DUMMY 
The viscous criterion is calculated as the instantaneous product of the compression and the 
rate of deflection of the sternum. Both arc derived from the measurement of sternum 
deflection. 
The sternum deflection response is filtered once at Channel Frequency Class 180. The 
compression at time t is calculated from this filtered signal expressed as the proportion of 
the half width of the EUROSID 1 chest, measured at the metal ribs (0.14 m): 
C(i) -D(o 
0.14 
The sternum deflection velocity at time t is calculated from the filtered deflection as: 
8X(AI + O-A'--I>)-(A' + 2)-A/-2>) V»> = \2St 
where D(t) is the deflection at time t in metres and 5t is the time interval in seconds 
between the measurements of deflection. The maximum value of 5t shall be 1,25 x 10"4 
seconds. This calculation procedure is shown diagrammatically below; 
Measured Deflection 
Filter at CFC 180 
Calculate Deflection I Calculate Compression 
Velocity: Vw Cw 
Calculate Viscous 
Criterion at time / 
(V*C)W = 1.3(V„, x CJ 
Détermine the 
Maximum value of V*C 
(V*CU = max [(V*C)(J 
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ISSN 0254-1475 
COM(95) 454 final 
DOCUMENTS 
EN 07 
Catalogue number : CB-C0-95-496-EN-C 
ISBN 92-77-93917-6 
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities 
L-2985 Luxembourg 
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