The Traffic and Mobility Working Group deals with both active and passive safety issues related to road traffic, as well as sustainability and user-friendliness of mobility innovations.
Work areas:
1) Child Restraint Systems (CRS)
During a car accident, Child Restraint Systems, when correctly installed, can reduce child mortality by 75% and the number of seriously injured children by 67%. However, several studies show that 50-70% of child restraints are not properly installed.
The results of the ANEC technical study, evaluating the limits of protection offered by both forward and rearward-facing restraints for children up to four years of age, have confirmed the important gap between the technical conclusions based on accident and test data, and the advice actually provided to consumers through legislation.
At present, the international regulation addressing the development of child restraints in Europe isthe new Regulation 129 (R 129). The old UN ECE Regulation 44 was phased and the sale of child restraints complying with the UN ECE Regulation 44 has been banned since September 1st 2023 in the European Union.
ANEC has been participating under the umbrella of Consumers International (CI) in the development of the Enhanced Child Restraint System (ECRS) Regulation. ANEC has also been working on the issue related to children left in cars within the Working Party on Passive Safety (GRSP).
ANEC also participates in the work of GRSP Informal Working Group on Safer Transport of Children in Buses and Coaches.
2) Bicycles
Cyclists are vulnerable road users. It is therefore important when developing transport and safety policies to also look at improving the cyclists’ conditions i.e., the infrastructure and driver awareness, as well as their protection. Structural safety of child transport systems for bicycles, standards for bicycles as well as related equipment, and infrastructure are of particular concern to ANEC.
In view of contributing to the improvement of bicycles’ standards, including EPACs (Electrically Power Assisted Cycles), ANEC participates in the relevant Technical Committees at European level (CEN TC 333 ‘Cycles’ and relevant Working Groups) and at international level (ISO TC 149 SC 1 ‘Cycles and major sub-assemblies’ and relevant Working Groups).
3) Electric vehicles
With the electric car market growing, more and more manufacturers have started to add electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles to their ranges. If these vehicles - able to contribute to the European target for reducing CO2 emissions - are to become mainstream, it is essential they come with the proper infra-structure to build consumer’s confidence.
This infrastructure must include equipment allowing the recharging of batteries in an efficient, user friendly and safe way. The charging at domestic socket outlet at homes should be made possible. It is also important to ensure the interoperability of plugs and sockets and lastly billing process.
Several standards are under development and are being monitored by ANEC in the eMobility Coordination Group and CEN TC 301 ’Road vehicles’. Among these standards, ANEC follows the development of durability standards for electric vehicle batteries, in the recently created CEN TC 301 WG18 on EV batteries.
ANEC also follows work on ‘Personal Light Electric Vehicles (PLEVs) and self-balancing vehicles’, e.g. segways, scooters (without seating position), hoverboards.
ANEC is represented in the relevant Technical Committees to advocate the consumer view.
4) Safety & emissions of motor vehicles
ANEC welcomes and supports measures intended to reduce emissions from vehicles or to increase their energy efficiency. However, the achievement of such measures should not be taken at the expense of safety or of ‘closed shopping’ for consumers.
ANEC monitors the developments in UNECE WP 29 of the GTR on Global Real Driving Emissions (GRDE). ANEC also participates in the European Commission’s Motor Vehicle Emissions Group (MVEG) to monitor developments on the revision of the cars/CO2 labelling Directive 1999/94/EC,and ensures that the information provided to consumers on fuel economy and emissions of new cars is clear.
ANEC has also been working in the CEN-CENELEC Joint Working Group ‘Fuel labelling’ to develop (a) European standard(s) on fuel labelling.
ANEC continued to monitor developments regarding tyre labelling and will monitor developments and research concerning tyre performances.
5) Intelligent Transport Systems
Car manufacturers increasingly incorporate high-tech electronic solutions to make driving experiences more comfortable, easier or safer. More and more systems assist and sometimes overrule the driver. But there is often insufficient coherence among the different systems that could potentially lead to a risk of confusion or distraction from the driver or even unforeseen misuse. In many cases there is no prior research available on the safety impact of these new technologies. These technological improvements bring about not only technical issues but also legal issues in terms of liability, which need to be monitored, and traditional standardisation processes cannot always keep up the pace.
The Traffic and Mobility WG participates in CEN TC 278 ‘Intelligent Transport Systems’ and UNECE WP 29 to monitor issues of consumer concern.
ANEC supports the revision of the ITS Directive and the EC’s wish to accelerate deployment of ITS with the aim to have more efficient, safer, and more sustainable mobility. We believe ITS should pay special attention to new means of mobility, modes and services (including personal mobility devices/options). The harmonisation of data formats is needed, allowing infrastructure and means of road transport to communicate while speaking the same language and thus improving safety and environment.
As ITS will handle personal data of travellers, consumers should actively give their consent (opt-in) and systems should be designed for this. Hence, consumers need to be recognised as stakeholders in the process.
6) Cross-sector issues
The Traffic and Mobility WG works on a selection of consumer issues in collaboration with other ANEC WGs. The use of CRS outside the car, children forgotten in cars, standards for bicycles as well as related equipment and infrastructure, are being jointly monitored with the Child Safety WG. The Traffic and Mobility WG is furthermore monitoring 'silent cars' with the Accessibility WG. And finally, car emissions and CO2 labelling of cars is monitored jointly with the Sustainability WG. With growing work in CCAM (Cooperative, Connected, Automated and Autonomous Mobility), the T&M WG also works with the Digital Society WG.
7) Issues to monitor
From a consumer perspective, it is also important to offer a certain level of protection to all car occupants. Thus, the WG monitors car frontal crash compatibility, safety of pedestrians, safety in coaches and minibuses, head restraints, crash protection of women, older people and small sized car occupants. Additionally, the WG monitors road vehicles maintenance and repair information.
8) Project Team: Sustainable and smart mobility
ANEC welcomed the EC’s ‘Strategy for sustainable and smart mobility’, released on 9 December 2020. Our Project Team on Smart Mobility & Sustainable Transport was created early 2020 and aims to discuss consumer relevant issues that will contribute to fulfil the objectives of the Green Deal. Standards can help achieve the policy goals outlined in the Green Deal in various ways, such as to clarify commonly accepted definitions, provide methods for measuring and testing, as well as ensuring open markets for the safe use of new technologies.
Our approach is to prioritise user and consumer safety and needs where accessibility and usability of the transport infrastructure must be guaranteed. In doing so, this supports the transition to sustainable and safe connected, cooperative and automated (CCAM) vehicle concepts, and personal micro-mobility options such as e-scooters, e-bikes and cargo bikes, covering door-to-door mobility.
Please contact Isabel Lopez Neira (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) if you are interested in joining the PT.
Activities in the European & international standards bodies and the Forum for Vehicle Regulations under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE):
ANEC is represented in, or monitors, the work of various Technical Committees dealing with traffic and mobility at the European and international levels, as well as forum and expert groups at UNECE (under the umbrella of Consumers International), and European Commission Committees.
- CEN TC 158 WG 15 'Helmets for S-EPAC users’
- CEN TC 252 WG 7 ‘Child cycle seats'
- CEN TC 278 'Intelligent Transport Systems'
- CEN TC 278 WG 15 'eSafety'
- CEN TC 278 WG 17 ‘Mobility Integration'
- CEN TC 301 'Road vehicles'
- CEN TC 301 WG 18 ‘Electric Vehicle Batteries’
- CEN TC 333 'Bicycles'
- CEN TC 333 WG 5 ' Electrically Power Assisted Cycles’
- CEN TC 333 WG 9 'Cargo bikes'
- CEN TC 354 WG 4 ‘Personal Light electric vehicles and self-balancing vehicles’
- CEN TC 441 ‘Fuel labelling’
- CEN/CENELEC eMobility Coordination Group
- ISO TC 149 SC 1 'Cycles and major sub-assemblies'
- ISO TC 149 SC 1 WG 13 ‘Continuous improvement of the standards EN ISO 4210 and EN ISO 8098’
- ISO TC 149 SC 1 WG 10 ‘Lighting and retro-reflective devices’
- ISO TC 149 SC 1 WG 15 ‘Electrically Power Assisted Cycles’
- UNECE - WP29 - World Forum for the Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (through CI)
- UNECE - GRSP - Working Party on Passive Safety (through CI)
- UNECE - GRSP Informal group on Enhanced Child Restraint Systems (through CI)
- Motor Vehicles Working Group
- Motor Vehicles Emissions Group
- Motor Vehicles Working Group, sub-group on Driver Behaviour Assessment System (DBAS)
- Connected, cooperative and automated mobility in Europe (CCAM) European Commission Expert platform
News
ANEC’s work supports families to travel sustainably and safely
For the 2023 edition of the Mobility Week, which took place between the 16th and the 22nd of September 2023, the chosen theme was “Save energy”. Energy and mobility poverty are rising due to higher costs for consumers and businesses across Europe, so it is crucial to opt for sustainable and energy efficient modes of transportation.
In a tweet issued during the European Mobility Week, ANEC recognised that public transport has a huge potential to decarbonise transportation. But we also argue that, to change their mobility habits and make sustainable choices, consumers need travel options that are also safe and comfortable for everyone, including children.
Although travelling by bus is considered one of the safest modes of transport, young children still face higher risk of serious injury in the event of an accident, often due to the absence of safe restraint systems. Through our involvement in the informal group on Safer Transport of Children in Buses and Coaches in UNECE, ANEC is therefore working on child restraint solutions for public transport used on the road. Our primary aim was to promote a concept that is safe and easy to use, for both parents and children, which does not require parents to bring their own device. Our efforts were successful, and a new regulatory text introducing built-in systems was adopted in May 2023.
The informal group is now reaching for its next milestone and started to work on the phase 2, which will allow standalone child restraint systems to be fitted with 2-point belt systems.
In the light of this work, ANEC is thus helping parents and caretakers to transport safely their children in buses and coaches, as we believe that saving energy should not be achieved at the expense of safety.
ANEC Traffic & Mobility WG meets
The annual meeting of the ANEC Traffic & Mobility WG took place in the new ANEC offices in Brussels on 27 & 28 June.
Our experts discussed the latest developments, achievements and future opportunities for ANEC in the field of cycling, covering not only traditional cycles but also e-bikes, carrier cycles, child bicycle seats and helmets.
Our expert from VeiligheidNL enriched the discussion with a presentation of a study from 2022 on bicycle and light moped accidents in the Netherlands. The report from the study is available (in Dutch) on the VeiligheidNL website at https://tinyurl.com/2net734h.
Other fields of ANEC involvement received particular attention, such as the safety and emissions of road vehicles, including the developments related to intelligent transport systems and connected and automated vehicles, as well as electric and micro-mobility. Last but not least, the group discussed in detail the activities in UNECE centring on the protection of vehicle occupants, including the safe transportation of children in passenger cars and buses.
ANEC responds to consultation on EURO 7
In December 2022, the EC released its long-awaited EURO 7 proposal for vehicle emissions limits, as the old EURO 6 standards reached 15 years of age in 2022. ANEC has highlighted the need for ambitious revision of the EURO 6/VI standards for years in order to cut pollution to the lowest level feasible. We used this opportunity to re-assert our position through the public consultation which closed in February 2023.
In general, we welcome the EC’s intention to modernise and simplify technical requirements applying to type-approved motor vehicles on emissions. Air pollution remains a preoccupying threat to the environment and human health, and urban populations are still exposed to pollutant levels above the prescribed limit values. A large part of these pollutant levels is due to road vehicles.
Regarding the content of the proposal, we acknowledge that test conditions proposed in Euro 7 will reflect real-life driving conditions better than Euro 6. As such, the new testing procedure should lead to emission savings. Despite these improvements, we remain critical of some key elements, such as the proposed durability thresholds, which do not match the average life expectancy of a car in the EU, and the worrying absence of an efficient method to measure particles from brake or tyre wear. We are also critical of a too-complicated vehicle designation system, and the introduction of eight sub-categories within EURO 7, which will be confusing to consumers.
Publications
To access position papers related to Traffic & Mobility please click the following link, Position papers.
