Document ID: 32003L0102

Directive 2003/102/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
of 17 November 2003
relating to the protection of pedestrians and other vulnerable road users before and in the event of a collision with a motor vehicle and amending Council 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 95 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee(1),
Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty(2),
Whereas:
(1) In order to reduce the number of road accident casualties in the Community, it is necessary to introduce measures so as to improve the protection of pedestrians and other vulnerable road users before and in the event of a collision with the front of a motor vehicle.
(2) A package of passive and active measures for improving safety (avoidance of accidents and reduction of secondary effects by traffic calming and infrastructure improvements) for vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, is urgently needed in the framework of the road safety action programme.
(3) The internal market comprises an area without internal frontiers in which the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital must be ensured and to that end a Community type-approval system for motor vehicles is in place; the technical requirements for the type-approval of motor vehicles with regard to pedestrian protection should be harmonised to avoid the adoption of requirements that differ from one Member State to another and to ensure the proper functioning of the internal market.
(4) Pedestrian protection objectives can be achieved by a combination of active and passive safety measures; the recommendations by the European Enhanced Vehicle-Safety Committee (EEVC) of June 1999 are the subject of a wide consensus in this area; those recommendations propose performance requirements for the frontal structures of certain categories of motor vehicles to reduce their aggressiveness; this Directive presents tests and limit values based on the EEVC recommendations.
(5) The Commission should examine the feasibility of extending the scope of this Directive to vehicles with a maximum mass of up to 3,5 tonnes, and report its findings to the European Parliament and to the Council.
(6) This Directive should be considered as one element of a broader package of measures, to be undertaken by the Community, the industry and the relevant authorities of the Member States, on the basis of exchanges in best practice, in order to address pre-crash (active), in-crash (passive), and post-crash safety of pedestrians and other vulnerable road users, with respect to road users, vehicles and infrastructure.
(7) In view of the speed of technological development in this area, alternative measures at least equivalent in terms of actual effectiveness to the requirements of this Directive - either passive or a combination of active and passive measures - may be proposed by the industry and shall be assessed following a feasibility study carried out by independent experts by 1 July 2004; the introduction of alternative measures at least equivalent in terms of actual effectiveness would require adapting or amending this Directive.
(8) Because of the ongoing research and technical progress in the area of pedestrian protection, it is appropriate to introduce a degree of flexibility in this field. Accordingly, this Directive should establish the fundamental provisions regarding pedestrian protection in the form of tests to be complied with by new types of vehicles and by new vehicles. The technical prescriptions for the application of such tests should be adopted by Commission decision.
(9) The rapidly advancing technology in active safety means that collision mitigation and avoidance systems could provide major safety benefits, for example in reducing collision speed and adjusting impact direction. The development of such technologies should be encouraged by this Directive.
(10) The associations representing the European, Japanese and Korean motor vehicle manufacturers have made commitments to start applying the EEVC recommendations concerning limit values and tests, or agreed alternative measures of at least equivalent effect, as from 2010, and a first set of limit values and tests as from 2005 to new types of vehicles and to apply the first set of tests to 80 % of all new vehicles as from 1 July 2010, to 90 % of all new vehicles as from 1 July 2011 and to all new vehicles as from 31 December 2012.
(11) This Directive should also contribute to establishing a high level of protection in the context of the international harmonisation of legislation in this area, which started under the 1998 Agreement of the UN/ECE concerning the establishment of global technical regulations for wheeled vehicles, equipment and parts which can be fitted and/or be used on wheeled vehicles.
(12) This Directive is one of the separate Directives which have to be complied with in order to conform to the EC type-approval procedure established by 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(3).
(13) Directive 70/156/EEC should therefore be amended accordingly,
HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Article 1
1. This Directive shall apply to the frontal surfaces of vehicles. For the purpose of this Directive, "vehicle" means any motor vehicle as defined in Article 2 of and Annex II to Directive 70/156/EEC, of category M1, of a maximum mass not exceeding 2,5 tonnes, and N1 derived from M1, of a maximum mass not exceeding 2,5 tonnes.
2. The purpose of this Directive is to reduce injuries to pedestrians and other vulnerable road users who are hit by the frontal surfaces of the vehicles defined in paragraph 1.
Article 2
1. With effect from 1 January 2004 no Member State may, on grounds relating to pedestrian protection:
- refuse, in respect of a type of vehicle, to grant EC type-approval, or national type-approval, or
- prohibit the registration, sale or entry into service of vehicles,
provided that the vehicles comply with the technical provisions set out in section 3.1. or 3.2. of Annex I.
2. With effect from 1 October 2005, Member States shall no longer grant:
- EC type-approval, or
- national type-approval,
except where the provisions of Article 8(2) of Directive 70/156/EEC are invoked, for any type of vehicle on grounds relating to pedestrian protection if the technical provisions set out in section 3.1. or 3.2. of Annex I are not complied with.
3. Paragraph 2 shall not apply to vehicles which do not differ with respect to their essential aspects of bodywork construction and design forward of the A pillars from vehicle types which have been granted EC type-approval or national type-approval before 1 October 2005 and which have not already been approved under this Directive.
4. With effect from 1 September 2010, Member States shall no longer grant:
- EC type-approval, or
- national type-approval,
except where the provisions of Article 8(2) of Directive 70/156/EEC are invoked, for any type of vehicle on grounds relating to pedestrian protection if the technical provisions set out in section 3.2. of Annex I to this Directive are not complied with.
5. With effect from 31 December 2012, Member States shall:
- consider certificates of conformity which accompany new vehicles in accordance with the provisions of Directive 70/156/EEC to be no longer valid for the purposes of Article 7(1) of that Directive, and
- prohibit the registration, sale and entry into service of new vehicles which are not accompanied by a certificate of conformity in accordance with Directive 70/156/EEC,
on grounds relating to pedestrian protection if the technical provisions set out in section 3.1. or 3.2. of Annex I are not complied with.
6. With effect from 1 September 2015, Member States shall:
- consider certificates of conformity which accompany new vehicles in accordance with the provisions of Directive 70/156/EEC to be no longer valid for the purposes of Article 7(1) of that Directive, and
- prohibit the registration, sale and entry into service of new vehicles which are not accompanied by a certificate of conformity in accordance with Directive 70/156/EEC,
on grounds relating to pedestrian protection if the technical provisions set out in section 3.2. of Annex I are not complied with.
Article 3
Subject to the provisions of Article 2, Member States shall ensure that the tests laid down in section 3.1. or 3.2. of Annex I are carried out in accordance with the technical prescriptions to be specified by Commission decision.
Article 4
Every month the approval authorities of the Member States shall each send to the Commission a copy of the type-approval certificate, the model for which is set out in Appendix 2 to Annex II, in respect of each vehicle they have approved in accordance with this Directive during that month.
Article 5
1. The Commission, acting on the basis of relevant information communicated by the approval authorities and interested parties as well as of independent studies, shall monitor the progress made by the industry in the area of pedestrian protection, and shall carry out, by 1 July 2004, an independent feasibility assessment concerning the provisions of Annex I, section 3.2, and in particular alternative measures - either passive or a combination of active and passive measures - which are at least equivalent in terms of actual effectiveness. The feasibility study shall be based, inter alia, on practical tests and independent scientific studies.
2. If, as a result of the feasibility assessment referred to in paragraph 1, it is considered necessary to adapt the provisions of Annex I, section 3.2, to include a combination of passive and active measures which afford at least the same level of protection as the existing provisions of Annex I, section 3.2, the Commission shall submit a proposal to the European Parliament and the Council to amend this Directive accordingly.
3. As long as adaptation of this Directive is restricted to the introduction of alternative passive measures which afford at least the same level of protection as the existing provisions of Annex I, section 3.2, such adaptation may be carried out by the Committee for Adaptation to Technical Progress, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 13 of Directive 70/156/EEC.
4. Before 1 April 2006, and every two years thereafter, the Commission shall report to the European Parliament and the Council on the results of the monitoring referred to in paragraph 1.
Article 6
Directive 70/156/EEC is hereby amended as follows:
1. The following points shall be inserted in Annex I:
"9.23. Pedestrian protection
9.23.1. A detailed description, including photographs and/or drawings, of the vehicle with respect to the structure, the dimensions, the relevant reference lines and the constituent materials of the frontal part of the vehicle (interior and exterior) shall be provided. This description should include detail of any active protection system installed."
2. The following points shall be inserted in Section A of Annex III:
"9.23. Pedestrian protection
9.23.1. A detailed description, including photographs and/or drawings, of the vehicle with respect to the structure, the dimensions, the relevant reference lines and the constituent materials of the frontal part of the vehicle (interior and exterior) shall be provided. This description should include detail of any active protection system installed."
3. The following item 58 and footnotes shall be inserted in Part I of Annex IV:
TABLE "
4. Annex XI shall be amended as follows:
- the following item 58 shall be inserted in Appendix 1:
TABLE "
- the following item 58 shall be inserted in Appendix 2:
TABLE "
- the following item 58 shall be inserted in Appendix 3:
TABLE "
Article 7
1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 31 December 2003 at the latest. They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
They shall apply these measures with effect from 1 January 2004.
When Member States adopt these measures, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such a reference on the occasion of their official publication. The methods of making such a reference shall be laid down 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 8
This Directive shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Article 9
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels, 17 November 2003.

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