The GTB committee of vehicle lighting experts met in Salzburg, Austria from 18 to 22 November 2024 with an in-person attendance by 68 people from 14 delegations worldwide.
In addition to the plenary session, the Technical Steering Committee, the General Assembly and several working groups (WGs) also met in person.
As we previously reported, Wolfgang Huhn was unanimously elected by the General Assembly as the new GTB President; his four-year mandate started on 1 January 2025.
Main results of the session:
- Two proposals for amendment to UN Regulation 48, dealing with:
Alignment of requirements for the position in length of the side retro-reflectors to that of the side-marker lamps on semi-trailers at the value of 4 m max from the front;
Clarification of the measurement conditions of the maximum duration of the answer-back signal when flashing (3 seconds including both the ON and OFF times).
- Two small amendments to UN Regulation 149: a correction of the numbering in paragraph 4.11, and a clarification of the CoP procedure.
The above proposals were approved by GTB and will be sent to GRE-92 in April 2025.
- Signalling Road Projection:
The proposal for reversing-light road projection was confirmed in its content, but will be completed with data, to be provided by the various GTB national delegations, on accidents involving vehicles in reverse motion and vulnerable road users or other vehicles, to answer the GRE request (particularly from UK) for more evidence of the usefulness of this function.
In response to GRE comments, the proposal for direction-indicator projection will be further revised by GTB to limit the use cases to the most safety-relevant ones and to add more detailed justification.
The reversing SRP proposal will be sent to GRE-92 in April 2025. If possible, the DI proposal will also be submitted to GRE-92.
Other discussed subjects included:
- Input to GRE-IWG SLR: consideration of a proposal to simplify paragraphs 6.x.4. and 6.x.5. of R48, to avoid repetitions and to clarify the requirements for positioning and visibility angles of the various lighting and light-signalling functions. In addition, a recommendation for the technological neutrality for light sources will be sent to SLR-70 in December 2024.
- Energy efficiency: preliminary research results were presented by the TUD (Technical University Darmstadt). The researchers analysed the most significant options to reduce power consumption according to the driving environment and traffic conditions, while ensuring the same level of safety. The findings could be used to amend the requirements on the switching threshold from DRL to headlamps and for the introduction of variable intensity DRL and new ECO-class headlamps within AFS.
- ADS marker lamp: notwithstanding the unclear situation at GRE and WP.29 about the creation of an ADS marking lamp function (some contracting parties are against it; others are in favour), GTB continues preparation of the related draft ‘hybrid’ UN Regulation (i.e. with a structure dealing with both the characteristics of the lamp and its installation on the vehicle). The requirements on this matter already existing in some countries will be taken into consideration.
Update of the national regulatory instruments on lighting were presented by:
- China: three new GB Standards for lighting devices, mainly aligned to the series 01 of amendments to UN Regulations 148, 149, and 150, were published on 29 September 2024, with implementation date from 1 July 2025.
- Taiwan: the regulations published in January 2024 are aligned to the 00 series of amendments to UN Regulations 148, 149, and 150. They are already applicable and will be implemented from January 2025. The further alignment of the Taiwanese regulations to the 01 series of amendments will be discussed in 2025, but their publication and implementation dates are not yet scheduled.
- Korea: regarding the planned updating of the local requirements for alignment to the 01 series of amendments to UN Regulations 148, 149, and 150, publication of the related KMVSS is ongoing, with foreseen application date in 2026. Moreover, the introduction of mass production tolerance limit of 20 per cent has been delayed from 2024 to 2025.
- USA: updating work of the SAE Standard on ADS marker lamps is continuing.
Finally, the CE approved the planning for the GTB sessions in 2025:
- Intermediate WGs and TFs session: Torino (IT), 11-13 February 2025;
- 137th plenary session: Lanzarote (ES), 26-30 May 2025;
- Intermediate WGs and TFs session: to be decided;
- 138th plenary session: Slovenia, 10-14 November 2025 (final location to be decided);
