On Tuesday 22nd September Vehicle Standard (Australian Design Rule 84/00 – Front Underrun Impact Protection) 2009 was registered.
ADR 84 applies to Category NC vehicles and is optional on Category NB2 vehicles and comes into force beginning January 2011 (see below).
Members are familiar with UN/ECE Regulation 93 on FUP requirements as this has been in use for some time to achieve compliance with the requirements for 26m B-Doubles. This Regulation provides the majority of the technical content for the new ADR.
Members can access the full text of ADR84 on the following link (note it is not yet available on the ADR site).
http://www.comlaw.gov.au/ComLaw/Legislation/LegislativeInstrument1.nsf/all/ search/B63B7D9147CCE5C7CA2576350009C608?OpenDocument
The following is an extract from the Honourable Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development & Local Government (DITRDLG), Mr Anthony Albanese's Ministers Press Release:
Today I have signed into law a new, mandatory vehicle design rule which will save lives and prevent serious injuries on the nation's roads.
The new Australian Design Rule (ADR) requires Front Underrun Protection Systems (FUPS) to be fitted to the front of all new models of heavy vehicles (over 12 tonnes) from January 2011 and to all existing models from January 2012.
FUPS prevents the car from becoming trapped under the front of the truck in the unfortunate event of a collision between the two, thereby ensuring the car's safety features such as seatbelts, airbags and crumple zones remain fully effective.
Each year in Australia around 30 people are killed in 'underrun' crashes, with most of these victims being the occupants of the cars involved.
The new ADR (84) was the result of a Regulatory Impact Statement process which carefully weighing up of the views of all interested parties, including state and territory governments as well as the heavy vehicle industry.
The Government's actions bring Australia into line with international standards.
* A video of a heavy vehicle underrun protection crash test with a passenger vehicle in a controlled environment is available on request by emailing: media@infrastructure.gov.au.
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