Draft change to the UN Regulation No. 131 for Advanced Emergency Braking Systems (AEBS)

 

Recently, new draft provisions for trucks and coaches under UN Regulation No. 131 for Advanced Emergency Braking Systems (AEBS) were endorsed by the Working Party on Automated/Autonomous and Connected Vehicles (GRVA). If the World Forum for the Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) adopts them in June 2022, the revision may enter into force by February 2023.

UN Regulation No. 131 itself was adopted by WP.29 in November 2012.  The European Union made it a compulsory requirement for new trucks and coaches in 2013.  AEBS was then extended to cars in the UN Regulation No. 152 adopted in February 2019 (it will become compulsory in the EU in July 2022 under the General Safety Regulation).

The strengthened provisions of the new version of the UN Regulation No. 131 will introduce much stronger automated braking in response to the detection of stationary objects (even if there has not been any alert to the driver from a warning system).  This change is important for example for situations where the traffic suddenly stops in front of a heavy duty vehicle.

Studies from 6 European countries quoted by WP.29 show that rear-end accidents involving Heavy Duty Vehicles caused the deaths of over 1,000 people between 2016 and 2018. In more than half of the cases, the HDV hit a vehicle which was stationary or which has come to a standstill just before the collision.

The new provisions of the UN Regulation No. 131 will also restrict the conditions under which emergency braking assistance systems can be turned off.  Basically, an automatic activation will be required after 15 minutes of deactivation.

The full information from WP.29 can be accessed HERE.