Vehicle Standards in Australia
ARTSA Improving Heavy Vehicle Road Safety Summit
16-17 April 2015
Steven Hoy
Section Head - Standards Development & International
Vehicle Safety Standards Branch
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Vehicle Standards in Australia
• The Australian Government sets vehicle standards
(Australian Design Rules) that must be met by vehicles
before they are first supplied to the Australian market
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This is done through the Motor Vehicle Standards Act 1989 (MVSA)
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“The main objects of this Act are:
a) to achieve uniform vehicle standards to apply to new vehicles
when they begin to be used in transport in Australia; and
b) to regulate the first supply to the market of used imported
vehicles.” (MVSA, s3)
• The states and territories regulate in-service standards
and vehicle operations
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Principally through legislation based on the Australian Vehicle
Standards Rules and the Australian Road Rules, managed by the
National Transport Commission, and the National Heavy Vehicle Law
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The ADRs: Coverage
• The ADRs cover the full array of on road vehicles
– Mopeds, motorcycles, cars, trailers (including caravans),
motorhomes, trucks and buses
• There are currently 62 active ADRs
– 54 are safety related
– 5 are emissions/energy related
– 3 are primarily anti-theft related (indirectly safety)
• The Safety ADRs cover a diverse range of matters
– Such as braking, lighting, door latches and hinges, seat belts and
anchorages, instrumentation, mirrors, front underrun protection for
heavy vehicles and occupant protection
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Meeting the ADRs: “The Compliance Plate”
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The international context
• Australia is harmonising with international vehicle
regulations (UN Regulations, Global Technical Regulations
(GTRs)), where warranted
– The vehicle industry is global
– Over 85% of vehicles are imported and Australia constitutes about
1% of the global vehicle market
– Australia participates actively in the development of international
vehicle regulations
• International vehicle regulation provides for improvements
in vehicle safety at the lowest cost, leading to a younger
vehicle fleet
• Harmonisation for heavy vehicles is more complex than for
light vehicles
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The United Nations Economic Commission
for Europe
UN 1958 Agreement (“UN Regulations”)
UN 1998 Agreement (“GTRs”)
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1958 Agreement
Contracting Parties (currently 62)
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1998 Agreement
Contracting Parties (currently 34)
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The two Agreements compared
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1958 Agreement:
Develops international UN Regulations in a forum open to any
country to join in.
Allows interested countries to approve products to the UN
Regulations; and so
have other countries accept the products without further testing.
1998 Agreement:
Develops “template” GTRs in a forum open to any country to join in
Requires any Contracting party to review the case for adopting a
new GTR in its domestic regulations within a year (in our case the
ADRs)
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“E” marking and “e” marking
What’s the difference?
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Under the 1958 Agreement, if regulations are “applied”, a
Contracting Party must accept component or system type approvals
issued by the other Contracting Parties who have applied the
regulation, in lieu of any national requirements
– “E” marking is an approval to a UN Regulation. As Australia is a party
to the 1958 Agreement, it can participate in development, voting and the
dispute process for products approved with an E mark.
– “e” marking is an approval to European Union (EU or EC or EEC)
regulations. Australia has no rights to any activities regarding these
approvals and cannot do so as it is not part of the European Union.
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International Whole Vehicle Type Approval
(IWVTA)
• Currently, different vehicle certification systems exist around the
world. IWVTA aims to establish a global system involving mutual
recognition between all participants.
• IWVTA upgrades the current international type approval system
under the 1958 Agreement, which covers approval of vehicle
systems and parts, to a “whole vehicle” level.
• IWVTA is expected to begin in 2016, after updating of the 1958
Agreement.
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Current UN System
IWVTA
Mutual recognition of
approvals of vehicle systems
and parts
IWVTA
Mutual recognition of approvals at
the whole vehicle level
Introduction
Vehicle type approval not required
to be obtained from each country
Vehicle type approval required to
be obtained from each country
Discuss and agree
on the inventory
Report to
WP.29
Draft amending
proposals
Submit
Report to
toWP.29
WP.29
Amend agreement
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IWVTA and UN R0
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New requirements for whole vehicle type approval are being
developed. Initially they apply to M1 (light passenger) vehicles
only under a new UN Regulation No.0:
– A Contracting Party to the 1958 Agreement would be able to
apply UN Regulation No.0 (UN R0)
– A Contracting Party that applies UN R0 could issue whole
vehicle type approvals and must accept vehicles with a valid
“Universal” IWVTA
– At first, only some component and system approvals will be
covered by IWVTA
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IWVTA will gradually be expanded out to cover more components
and systems and then other vehicle categories such as heavy
vehicles
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IWVTA – Benefits and Challenges
 IWVTA will reduce the burden on industry and government by
eliminating the duplication of whole vehicle type approval for each
country
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This will reduce both time and resources for all parties in terms of
certification as well as follow-on auditing of production facilities
 IWVTA will allow countries to issue and accept earlier versions of UN
Regulations
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Australia already does this via some alternative standards in the ADRs,
but this sits outside of the UN arrangements
 However, there must be commensurate safeguards built in to
International Whole Vehicle Type Approvals to avoid increasing the
risk of non-compliance
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Approval procedures, audit procedures and rectification procedures have
all been tightened, to allow increased acceptance of vehicles based on
the mutual recognition of approvals.
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Development of ADRs
• New and amended ADRs are developed in
consultation with States and Territories,
industry and road user groups
– There are strong consultative structures, including the Strategic
Vehicle Safety and Environment Group (SVSEG), the Australian
Motor Vehicle Certification Board and the Technical Liaison Group
(TLG), as well as targeted consultation
– SVSEG has agreed an ADR work program which is consistent with
the Safe Vehicles section of the National Road Safety Strategy
2011-20 (NRSS) as well as the latest 2015-17 Action Plan
– SVSEG has also assumed responsibility for leading on nonregulatory vehicle actions in the Strategy
• ARTSA is an active and constructive participant in SVSEG and the TLG
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The NRSS and NRSSAP
• The NRSS Action Plan 2015-17 includes:
– Implementation of side impact occupant protection for light vehicles
– Development of a Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) on ABS for
motorcycles (in conjunction with VicRoads)
– Development of a RIS on ESC for heavy vehicles (in close cooperation
with the heavy vehicle industry)
– Further work will include development of RISs for Lane Departure
Warning Systems and Advanced Emergency Braking Systems (AEBS)
for heavy vehicles; and research on AEBS for light vehicles and
reversing cameras (in conjunction with Transport for NSW)
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The ADR Program for Heavy Vehicles
– National Heavy Vehicle Braking Strategy (NHVBS) (ADRs
35/38 Braking)
• Phase I ABS/LP (2013-15)
• Phase II ESC (2015+)
– Lane Departure Warning (LDW) (2015+)
– Advanced Emergency Brake Systems (AEBS) (2015+)
– Cabin Strength (TBA)
– Vehicle Configuration & Dimensions, General Safety and
Specific Purpose Vehicles (ADRs 42, 43, 44) (Review)
– Road Trains/B-doubles and Road Speed Limiting (ADRs
63, 64, 65) (Review)
– Monitor developments in safety technology: ABS, EBS, ESC
(DSC and RSC), BA, P-e BA, FCW, LDW, ISAssist, ISAdapt, ACC, SBR, DRLs
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The NHVBS Phase II ESC
– Development of a RIS on ESC for heavy vehicles (ADRs 35/38 Braking)
• Q1-2 2014 – Implement NHVBS Phase I (certification and industry code for
multi-vehicle combinations)
• Q2 2014 to Q1 2015 – Research on performance in multi-vehicle
combinations and on reliability
• Q3-4 2014 – Research on effectiveness
• Q1-3 2015 – RIS and consultation process
• Q4 2015 – Finalisation.
– Research on performance in multi-vehicle combinations and on
reliability:
• Survey released through the peak bodies (such as ARTSA)
• Open for operators/maintenance facilities to respond up until the end of
June 2015:
http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/motor/design/adr_comment.aspx
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Deregulation
• Has the potential to significantly enhance
safety
– By enabling the most modern vehicles to be
brought into the fleet quicker and at a lower
price
– By enabling greater focus on key safety
issues
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Deregulation
• Harmonisation of the ADRs has been accelerated
– 27 (of 62) ADRs are aligned to UN Regulations through ‘application’, providing
immediate update in the ADRs
– 18 ADRs are closely aligned with UN Regulations, and the relevant UN
Regulations will be applied as soon as practicable
– Further opportunities for alignment/application will be explored
– Australia’s involvement in IWVTA (initially for light passenger vehicles), will
streamline certification processes
• Obsolete content is being removed from the ADRs
• The review of the Motor Vehicle Standards Act
provides further opportunities to identify ways of doing
things better, smarter and safer
• Ideas for harmonisation (recognising complexity) are
welcome
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Deregulation
• Non-regulatory approaches can complement
regulatory approaches
– Encouraging higher performance in areas where there is regulation and
innovation in areas where regulation is yet to be developed or is not justifiable
at this stage
– Responding rapidly to new technologies
• Australian Government is supporting ANCAP as a
member and through major funding
– ANCAP plays a leading role among non-regulatory approaches to vehicle
safety and can continue to encourage safety levels beyond those set in the
regulatory standards
• Scope for increased use of codes of practice,
advisories and self-regulation
– ARTSA currently active in the area of codes including for multi-vehicle
combinations
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Conclusions
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Australia is harmonising with international vehicle regulations
where warranted, including through IWVTA
The ADR Program is an agreed set of priorities in line with
international vehicle regulations and the NRSS
Both regulatory and non-regulatory measures must keep evolving
and improving
– They work best when there is an appropriate mix
Deregulation, including harmonisation, will enable a greater focus
on key safety issues
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