COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION

of 5 July 2010

on the assessment of defects during roadworthiness testing in accordance with Directive 2009/40/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on roadworthiness tests for motor vehicles and their trailers

(2010/378/EU)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 292 thereof,

Whereas:

(1) In the interests of road safety, environmental protection and fair competition it is important to ensure that vehicles in operation are properly maintained and tested, so that they can maintain their performance as guaranteed by type-approval, without excessive degradation, throughout their lifetime.

(2) In addition to the standards and methods referred to in Directive 2009/40/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 May 2009 on roadworthiness tests for motor vehicles and their trailers (1), inspectors conducting vehicle testing should be provided with guidelines in order to ensure a harmonised assessment of the failures listed in Annex II to that Directive.

(3) The findings of two projects, Autofore (2) and IDELSY (3), which recently dealt with future options for roadworthiness testing, and the outcome of an open and factual dialogue with stakeholders have been taken into account.

(4) To reflect the seriousness of failures, three categories of failures should be introduced.

(5) Each category of failure should contain the consequences for the use of the vehicle in that condition.

(6) This Recommendation is a first step towards a uniform assessment of the deficiencies identified during roadworthiness testing within the Union,

HAS ADOPTED THIS RECOMMENDATION:

Member States should assess failures detected during a roadworthiness test of a vehicle in accordance with the guidelines set out in the Annex to this Recommendation.

Done at Brussels, 5 July 2010.

For the Commission

Siim KALLAS

Vice-President

(1)

OJ L 141, 6.6.2009, p. 12

(2) Autofore study on the Future Options for Roadworthiness Enforcement in the European Union, http://ec.europa.eu/transport/roadsafety/publications/projectfiles/autofore_en.htm

(3) IDELSY Initiative for Diagnosis of Electronic Systems in Motor Vehicles for PTI, http://ec.europa.eu/transport/roadsafety/publications/projectfiles/idelsy_en.htm

ANNEX

1. Assessment of defects and definitions

In the framework of the implementation of Directive 2009/40/EC, this Recommendation lists the vehicle systems and components to be tested and the guidelines which Member States are recommended to apply during roadworthiness tests to determine whether the condition of the vehicle is acceptable.

2. Guidelines for the assessment of defects and definitions

The guidelines for assessing failures, including technical defects and other non-compliances, that are found during periodic testing of vehicles are categorised in three groups, as follows:

MINOR DEFECTS (MiD)

MAJOR DEFECTS (MaD)

DANGEROUS DEFECTS (DD)

Each defect category should be defined by reference to the condition of the vehicle as follows:

MINOR DEFECTS

Technical defects that have no significant effect on the safety of the vehicle and other minor non-compliances. The vehicle does not necessarily have to be re-examined as it can reasonably be expected that the detected defects will be rectified without delay.

MAJOR DEFECTS

Defects that may prejudice the safety of the vehicle or put other road users at risk and other more significant non-compliances. Further use of the vehicle on the road without repair of the detected defects is subject to conditions. The competent authorities in the Member States must adopt a procedure for setting the conditions under which the vehicle may be used before passing another roadworthiness test.

DANGEROUS DEFECTS

Defects that constitute a direct and immediate risk to road safety such that the vehicle should not be used on the road under any circumstances.

A vehicle having defects falling into more than one defect group should be classified according to the most serious defect. A vehicle showing several defects of the same group can be classified in the next more serious group if their combined effect makes the vehicle more dangerous.

For defects which can be classified in more than one category, it should be the responsibility of the inspector carrying out the test to categorise the defects according to their severity, in accordance with national legislation.

Requirements for type-approval at the time of approval, first registration or first entry into service should be taken into consideration during the defect assessment. Nevertheless, some items will be covered by retrofitting requirements.

Guidelines for defect assessment