Directive 1996/27 - Protection of occupants of motor vehicles in the event of a side impact

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1.

Current status

This directive was in effect from July 28, 1996 until October 31, 2014 and should have been implemented in national regulation on May 20, 1997 at the latest.

2.

Key information

official title

Directive 96/27/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 1996 on the protection of occupants of motor vehicles in the event of a side impact and amending Directive 70/156/EEC
 
Legal instrument Directive
Number legal act Directive 1996/27
Original proposal COM(1994)519 EN
CELEX number i 31996L0027

3.

Key dates

Document 20-05-1996
Publication in Official Journal 08-07-1996; OJ L 169, 8.7.1996,Special edition in Croatian: Chapter 13 Volume 007,Special edition in Estonian: Chapter 13 Volume 017,Special edition in Bulgarian: Chapter 13 Volume 017,Special edition in Romanian: Chapter 13 Volume 017,Special edition in Lithuanian: Chapter 13 Volume 017,Special edition in Maltese: Chapter 13 Volume 017,Special edition in Slovenian: Chapter 13 Volume 017,Special edition in Polish: Chapter 13 Volume 017,Special edition in Slovak: Chapter 13 Volume 017,Special edition in Latvian: Chapter 13 Volume 017,Special edition in Czech: Chapter 13 Volume 017,Special edition in Hungarian: Chapter 13 Volume 017
Effect 28-07-1996; Entry into force Date pub. + 20 See Art 6
End of validity 31-10-2014; Repealed by 32009R0661
Transposition 20-05-1997; At the latest See Art 5

4.

Legislative text

Avis juridique important

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5.

31996L0027

Directive 96/27/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 1996 on the protection of occupants of motor vehicles in the event of a side impact and amending Directive 70/156/EEC

Official Journal L 169 , 08/07/1996 P. 0001 - 0038

DIRECTIVE 96/27/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 20 May 1996 on the protection of occupants of motor vehicles in the event of a side impact and amending 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 100a thereof,

Having regard to 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 (1), and in particular Article 13 (4) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (2),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (3),

Acting in accordance with the procedures laid down in Article 189b of the Treaty (4),

Whereas the total harmonization of technical requirements for motor vehicles is necessary in order fully to achieve the internal market;

Whereas in order to reduce the number of road accident casualties in Europe, it is necessary to introduce legislative measures for improving the protection of occupants of motor vehicles in the event of a side impact as much as possible; whereas this Directive introduces side impact test requirements, including biomechanical criteria, to ensure that a reasonable level of side impact resistance is provided;

Whereas these requirements should be regarded as an interim measure and will need to be reviewed in the light of further research and experience gained during the first two years of type-approval tests carried out in accordance with this Directive; whereas the establishment of more stringent standards will ensure a higher level of safety in future;

Whereas this Directive will be one of the separate directives which must be complied with in order to ensure the conformity of vehicles with the requirements of the EC type-approval procedure established by Directive 70/156/EEC; whereas, therefore, the provisions of Directive 70/156/EEC relating to vehicle systems, components and separate technical units apply to this Directive;

Whereas the procedure for determining the seating reference point in motor vehicles is given in Annex III to Council Directive 77/649/EEC of 27 September 1977 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the field of vision of motor vehicle drivers (5); whereas it is therefore unnecessary to repeat it in this Directive; whereas reference should be made in this Directive to Council Directive 70/387/EEC of 27 July 1970 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the doors of motor vehicles and their trailers (6), Council Directive 74/483/EEC of 17 September 1974 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the external projections of motor vehicles (7), Council Directive 76/115/EEC of 18 December 1975 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to anchorages for motor-vehicle safety belts (8) and to ISO standard 6487:1987;

Whereas the technical requirements of this Directive are based on United Nations Economic Commission for Europe document TRANS/SC1/WP29/396,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1

For the purposes of this Directive, 'vehicle` shall have the meaning given to it in Article 2 of Directive 70/156/EEC.

Article 2

  • 1. 
    No Member State may, on grounds concerning the protection of occupants of vehicles in the event of a side impact resistance:
  • refuse, in respect of a vehicle type, to grant EC type-approval or national type-approval, or
  • prohibit the registration, sale or entry into service of a vehicle,

if it complies with the...


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This text has been adopted from EUR-Lex.

6.

Original proposal

 

7.

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