Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1341 of 23 April 2021 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2144 of the European Parliament and of the Council by laying down detailed rules concerning the specific test procedures and technical requirements for the type-approval of motor vehicles with regard to their driver drowsiness and attention warning systems and amending Annex II to that Regulation (Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2019/2144 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 on type-approval requirements for motor vehicles and their trailers, and systems, components and separate technical units intended for such vehicles, as regards their general safety and the protection of vehicle occupants and vulnerable road users, amending Regulation (EU) 2018/858 of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Regulations (EC) No 78/2009, (EC) No 79/2009 and (EC) No 661/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Regulations (EC) No 631/2009, (EU) No 406/2010, (EU) No 672/2010, (EU) No 1003/2010, (EU) No 1005/2010, (EU) No 1008/2010, (EU) No 1009/2010, (EU) No 19/2011, (EU) No 109/2011, (EU) No 458/2011, (EU) No 65/2012, (EU) No 130/2012, (EU) No 347/2012, (EU) No 351/2012, (EU) No 1230/2012 and (EU) 2015/166 (1), and in particular Article 4(6) and point (a) of Article 6(6) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Article 6 of Regulation (EU) 2019/2144 requires motor vehicles of categories M and N to be equipped with certain advanced vehicle systems, including driver drowsiness and attention warning (‘DDAW’) systems. It lays down in its Annex II basic requirements for the type-approval of motor vehicles with regard to the driver drowsiness and attention warning systems.

(2) Detailed rules are necessary concerning the specific test procedures and technical requirements for the type-approval of motor vehicles with regard to driver drowsiness and attention warning systems.

(3) Fatigue negatively affects driver’s physical, cognitive, psychomotor and sensory processing capabilities, which are needed for safe driving. Driver fatigue is a factor in 10-25 % of all road crashes in the Union.

(4) In accordance with Article 3, point (5), of Regulation (EU) 2019/2144 the DDAW system is a system that assesses the driver’s alertness through vehicle systems analysis and warns the driver if needed via the vehicle’s human-machine interface.

(5) DDAW systems are more effective outside the urban zones because the reduced driver alertness due to fatigue mostly occurs in long-distance driving at a constant speed. Moreover, constantly changing driving and steering pattern when driving within urban zones is difficult for assessment with the available technologies. Motor vehicles with a maximum design speed of 70 km/h or below should therefore be exempted from the obligation to be equipped with DDAW systems.

(6) The DDAW systems assess the human physical state through indirect means, such as system analysis and recognition of driving or steering pattern of a driver exhibiting reduced alertness due to drowsiness, therefore it is not possible to fully test those systems through a set of defined tests or with a programmable machine, which reproduces human behaviour. Instead, the manufacturer should perform validation testing with human participants and present the results to the approval authority together with at least one test protocol for checking the capability of the DDAW systems to produce a warning to the drowsy driver.

(7) Taking into account the indirect nature of the measurement, the variability in the effects of human drowsiness and the relative immaturity of existing technologies, the performance requirements for DDAW systemsshould be set at a level that is realistic and attainable. At the same time, those requirements should be technology-neutral, in order to foster development of new technologies, therefore, the assessment of the performance of DDAW systems should be based on a statistical approach, taking into account either the average efficiency among the test subjects or the minimal efficiency for 95 % of them. However, the use of the latter option should be preferred as it provides that the DDAW systems will perform equally effective to all drivers.

(8) This Regulation should provide a reference scale to be used by manufacturers to measure driver drowsiness in the tests involving human participants. Where manufacturers choose to use an alternative measurement method, it should be duly documented and equivalence to the reference scale in this Regulation should be provided.

(9) The table in Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2019/2144 containing the list of requirements referred to in Article 4(5) and Article 5(3) of that Regulation does not contain any reference to regulatory acts as regards driver drowsiness and attention warning systems. It is therefore necessary to introduce a reference to this Regulation in that Annex.

(10) Regulation (EU) 2019/2144 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(11) As Regulation (EU) 2019/2144 is to apply from 6 July 2022, this Regulation should apply from the same date.

(12) The provisions of this Regulation are closely linked as they deal with rules concerning the specific test procedures and technical requirements for the type-approval of motor vehicles with regard to their driver drowsiness and attention warning systems. As a result of the rules laid down in this Regulation, it is necessary to add a reference to this Regulation in Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2019/2144. It is therefore appropriate to lay down those provisions in a single Delegated Regulation,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Scope

This Regulation applies to motor vehicles of categories M and N, as defined in points (a) and (b) of Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/858 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2), with a maximum design speed above 70 km/h.

Article 2

Technical requirements for the driver drowsiness and attention warning system

Technical requirements for the approval of motor vehicles with regard to the driver drowsiness and attention warning systems are laid down in Part 1 of Annex I.

Article 3

Procedures for validation of driver drowsiness and attention warning systems

Test procedures for validation of driver drowsiness and attention warning systems by the manufacturer are laid down in Part 2 of Annex I.

Article 4

Procedures for assessment of technical documentation and verification testing

Procedures for assessment of the technical documentation provided by the manufacturer and for verification testing by the approval authorities and technical services are laid down in Part 3 of Annex I.

Article 5

Amendment to Regulation (EU) 2019/2144

Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2019/2144 of the European Parliament and of the Council is amended in accordance with Annex II to this Regulation.

Article 6

Entry into force and application

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

It shall apply from 6 July 2022.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 23 April 2021.

For the Commission The President Ursula VON DER LEYEN

(1) OJ L 325, 16.12.2019, p. 1.

(2) Regulation (EU) 2018/858 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on the approval and market surveillance of motor vehicles and their trailers, and of systems, components and separate technical units intended for such vehicles, amending Regulations (EC) No 715/2007 and (EC) No 595/2009 and repealing Directive 2007/46/EC (OJ L 151, 14.6.2018, p. 1).