Side-impact resistance of motor vehicles (amend. Directive 70/156/EEC)

The European Parliament adopted the report by Mr Alan DONNELLY (PSE, UK). In general, Parliament proposed doing away with the two-stage procedure for side-impact collision tests. For these tests, there would therefore no longer be a first stage - mobile deformable barrier with ground clearance of 260 mm - only a second stage involving a mobile deformable barrier with ground clearance of 300 mm, which was more in line with actual collision conditions. In order to give the industry enough time to adapt, the legislation on side-impact collisions would only apply to new vehicle types submitted for approval after 1 October 1998 and would not apply to existing models until 2000. Parliament also proposed that, two years after the adoption of the legislation on side impacts, the directive should be reviewed with a view to eventually increasing the ground clearance of the barrier height to 350 mm. �