Strengthening Collision Tests for Small Cargo Vehicles Under 3.5t "Enhancing Safety"

Collision tests for small cargo vehicles under 3.5 tons, which have a high fatality rate in collision accidents, will be strengthened in the future. In addition, the mandatory installation of Advanced Emergency Braking Systems (AEBS), an advanced device for accident prevention, will be expanded to all vehicle types (excluding ultra-small vehicles).

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 21st that it will give prior legislative notice on the 22nd regarding the partial amendment of the "Regulations on the Performance and Standards of Automobiles and Automobile Parts," which includes these measures.

This amendment is a follow-up measure to the "Traffic Safety Enhancement Measures for Commercial Vehicles," jointly prepared and announced by related ministries to strengthen the safety of commercial vehicles such as cargo trucks.

According to the amendment, the collision safety of small cargo vehicles will be significantly enhanced.

Until now, small cargo vehicles have had a fatality and serious injury rate about twice as high as passenger cars in accidents, raising calls for fundamental safety improvements. However, small cargo vehicles have been exempted or excluded from various collision tests stipulated in automobile safety standards, leading to concerns about the need to secure their safety.

The international organization that sets automobile safety standards (UN WP29) also significantly strengthened international automobile standards in June 2020 to improve the safety of such small cargo vehicles.

In this amendment, small cargo vehicles will be included as subjects of collision tests, in line with international standards, and four criteria will be applied respectively: human injury, door opening, steering device displacement, and fuel system leakage.

However, to ensure the stable establishment of the related system, the new models newly released in the market will be subject to the standards starting next year, and existing models currently released and sold will be gradually strengthened considering the design and improvement period of automobile manufacturers.

The human injury standard will be applied first from 2024, and all other standards such as door opening will be applied from 2027.

The mandatory installation of Advanced Emergency Braking Systems will be expanded to all vehicle types. AEBS is an advanced safety device that automatically applies brakes by detecting vehicles, pedestrians, bicycles, etc., ahead.

The installation of AEBS was first mandated last July for buses and medium-to-large trucks, which have high damage in accidents. Through this amendment, it is planned to expand the mandate to passenger cars and small cargo vehicles, which account for more than 90% of the total registered vehicles (excluding ultra-small vehicles).

It is expected that this will reduce rear-end collisions, pedestrian and bicycle collision accidents, and more.

Additionally, the principle of cargo truck loading methods will be defined as closed type, the loading amount standard will be improved from specific gravity to weight (kg), and the method of marking the cargo bed will be standardized to minimize confusion at the site.

According to international automobile standards, the number and location of lighting devices such as daytime running lights and reversing lights will be changed and adjusted, and regulations on the field of view for interior rearview devices (commonly known as room mirrors) mandatory for vans and large cargo vehicles will also be improved.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.