Establishes the technical requirements for the manufacturing and installing of rear underride guards for cargo vehicles.

    THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF TRAFFIC - CONTRAN, using the legal prerogative given by Article 12, subsection I, of Law no. 9503, September 23rd, 1997, which established the Brazilian Traffic Code - CTB, and according to Decree no. 4.711, Mai 29th, 2003, which deals with the Coordination of the National System of Traffic, and

    Considering the need for improvement and updating of the safety requirements for Brazilian and imported vehicles, determines:

    Article 1 – Cargo vehicles with gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) above four thousand six hundred kilogram, which will be manufactured in this country, imported or provided with a cargo bed from July 1st, 2004, will only receive a license for circulation if equipped with a rear guard that meets the requisites established by the Addendum of this Regulation.

    Sole Section - Cargo vehicles with gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) above four thousand six hundred kilogram, which have had their cargo bed or original characteristics changed, or on which any kind of implement is installed after the date referred to in the first paragraph of this Article, shall also meets the requisites established by the Addendum of this Regulation.

    Article 2 - This Regulation does not apply to the following vehicles: I - Incomplete or unfinished;
II - To be exported;
III - Tractor trucks;
IV - Constructed especially for self-carrying or very long cargoes;
V - Those in which the attachment of the rear guard specified by this Regulation is incompatible with their use;
VI - Vehicles with rear guard incorporated in their body according to the manufacturer’s original design;
VII - Military vehicles;
VIII - Collector's vehicles.

 

    Sole Section - The Brazilian supreme executive traffic agency will analyse and decide what vehicles fit into subsection V.

    Article 3 - This Regulation will be valid from the date of its publication.

    Scope:
    To establish minimum requirements for the manufacture and installation of rear guards to be attached to trucks, trailers and semi-trailers with gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) above 4,600 kg.

    Purpose:
    To prevent or reduce material damage to the upper part of the passenger's compartment of vehicles colliding with the rear end of cargo vehicles, in order to avoid or minimize trauma on the upper part of the victims' bodies.

    1. Application

    All trucks, trailers and semi-trailers with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) above 4,600 kg, except the vehicles described in Article 2 of this Regulation.

    2.1 The company that finishes or completes the vehicles specified under subsection I of Article 2 is liable to fulfill the requirements established by this Regulation.
    2.2 The vehicles which fit into subsections IV and V of Article 2, shall present on their "CRVL" (Vehicle Registry and License Certificate) the following annotation: "Underride guard, subsection IV or V of Article 2 of Regulation nr..."
    2.3 At any time the Brazilian supreme executive traffic agency may require the vehicle manufacturers, complementers and importers to present the test results which attest the fulfilling of the requirements established by this Regulation.
    2.4 The traffic agencies shall fulfil and enforce the requirements established by this Regulation within their respective jurisdictions.

    3. Definitions

    So as to apply this Regulation, the following has been defined:

    3.1 Rear guard: Protective device consisting of a horizontal member and links for assembly, attached to the side members of the chassis or other structural members which carry out the chassis function, intended to reduce body injuries and the damages resulting from collisions involving the rear end of the vehicle.
    3.2 Chassis: Part of the vehicle consisting of components necessary to move and support the cargo bed.
    3.3 Chassis side member: Main longitudinal structural member of the chassis frame or vehicle body.
    3.4 Vehicle Mass in Running Order: It is the vehicle's weight plus the weight of the cargo bed and/or work-performing equipment, fuel, coolant, tools and accessories, spare wheel, fire extinguisher and reflective emergency signaling device, expressed in kilograms.
    3.5 Load capacity: It is the maximal load that the vehicle can carry, including driver and passengers, and expressed in kilograms.
    3.6 Gross Vehicle Nominal Weight (Maximal total mass): It is the maximal weight that the vehicle transmits to the pavement, consisted of the sum of its Vehicle Mass in Running Order and Load Capacity.
    3.7 Retractile guard: Protection device equipped with an articulation mechanism that, during vehicle's frontward movement, allows the ground clearance to change when it touches a ground obstacle and guarantees its returning to the original position after overcoming the obstacle.

    4. Specific Requirements

    The rear guards must comply with the following requirements:

    4.1 The height of the rear guard's underside with regards to the vehicle's wheels bearing plane, being the vehicle at its Running Order Mass, shall not at any point exceed 400 mm (Figure 1).
    4.2 The horizontal member of the rear guard shall be placed so that it constitutes the rear extremity of the vehicle (Figure 1).
    4.3 The length of the rear guard's horizontal member shall neither be shorter than 100 mm on either side, nor exceed the largest dimension of either the cargo bed width, the work-performing equipment width or the distance between the outermost points of the rims (Figure 2).
    4.4 The cross-sectional vertical height of the rear guard's horizontal member shall not be less than 100 mm (Figure 2). The lateral extremities of the horizontal member shall not have sharp outer edges. The guard shall be straight, uniform in shape, seamless, without holes and made from a single type of material.
    4.5 The rear guard can be designed so as to allow the variation, if necessary, of its height in relation to the ground, (examples: maneuvers, loading and unloading operations).
    A mechanism shall be included for returning the guard to the service position without operator intervention in case of unintentional change of position.
    4.6 The lengthening of the chassis shall be carried out according to the instructions provided by the vehicle manufacturer.
    4.7 The welding material shall be compatible with the material of the chassis beams.
    4.8 The guard shall so be designed that, once installed, it does not hinder visibility in terms of the vehicle's rear warning lights and license plate according to the respective requirements.
    4.9 The guard shall be painted with reflective red and white stripes, inclined at a 45 degree angle in relation to the horizontal line and with a width of 50.0 +/- 5.0 mm, as follows below:

    - Painting method of the metalic structure - Anticorrosive primer, with acrylic melamine or alkyd melanin resin finishing, according to the following specifications:

    The four pairs of chromaticity coordinates shall define the admissible color according to the standard colorimetric CIE system, a pattern with illuminant D65. ASTME - 1164 Method with defined values and "Hunter Lab Labscan II 0/45 spectrocolorimeter" equipment with CMR559 option. Computer analyses carried out according to E-308.
    - Specification of the minimum retroreflectivity coefficient in candelas per Lux per square meter (orientation 0° and 90°).
    The retroreflectivity coefficients shall not be inferior to the minimum specified values. The measurements shall be carried out according to with the ASTME-810 method. All the entry angles shall be measured at viewing angles of 0.2° and 0.5°. The 90° direction is defined when the light source rotates in the same direction in which the the device shall be placed on the vehicle.

    Note: The characteristics of the retroreflector required by this regulation shall be certified by an organization certified by the Brazilian supreme executive traffic agency - DENATRAN, and the retroreflector shall be labeled in every one of its white segments with a 50 mm wide security label attesting this certificate with the words "DENATRAN APPROVED" in 3 mm high letters.
    4.10 The guard attachment hardware shall be designed so that it meets the requirements specified in this Addendum.
    4.11 For vehicles carrying tanks which contain hazardous materials in traffic, the rear guard shall be attached to the vehicle's chassis at least 150 mm beyond the tank or rearmost accessory (Figure 3).

    5. Test procedure

5.1 Test devices

    5.1.1 Devices with appropriate articulations (joint articulations, for example) for the application of the forces specified in section 5.3.
    5.1.2 Contact surface between the guard and the force application device should be 250 mm high, 200 mm wide, 25 mm thick and curvature radius of 5 +/- 1 mm at the edges.
    5.1.3 Device for measuring the forces specified in Table 1 (Application of Forces).

    5.2.1 Test with rear guard attached to the vehicle.

    5.2.1.1 The rear guard shall be attached to the vehicle in service position, being the vehicle at its Running Order Mass, according to the requirements of Section 4 and Figure 1. The forces specified in Table 1 shall be individually applied at test locations P1, P3 and P2, respectively.
    5.2.1.2 The forces specified in Table 1 shall be applied parallel to the vehicle's medium longitudinal axis by means of a contact surface specified in Section 5.1.2.
    5.2.1.3 The center point of the contact surface shall be positioned at test locations P1, P2 and P3.
    5.2.1.4 The P1 test locations are situated 200 mm from the outer edge of the cargo bed or the working-performing equipment, whichever is the largest. The P3 test location is the central point of the rear guard and P2 test locations are situated symmetrically from P3 at a minimum distance of 700 mm and a maximum of 1,000 mm apart. The rear guard manufacturer may specify the exact location of the P2 test location. The height of the P1, P2 and P3 test locations, above the vehicle's wheel bearing plane, shall be defined as the medium point of the horizontal member's height. It must not, however, be more than 600 mm above the vehicle's wheel bearing plane, being the vehicle at its Running Order Mass (Figure 2).
    5.2.1.5 In order to avoid displacement of the vehicle, the same shall be restrained by any method at any part of its body or axle, except for the part of the chassis located between the rearmost axle and the guard.
    5.2.1.6 For a range of rear guards derived from the same design, the test shall be conducted for the most critical case, considering design and application. The most critical case is defined as the rear guard with the largest distance between the test location P1 and the rear extremity of the chassis beam (distance B in Figure 2). The tested rear guard must not be reused, regardless of the result.

    5.2.2 Test with rear guard attached to a test fixture.

    5.2.2.1 The test fixture shall be constructed and fixed so as to suppport the test requirements without being deformed or displaced.
    5.2.2.2 The rear guard shall be mounted to the test fixture in a position similar to its position at the truck.
    5.2.2.3 The same test criteria defined in Section 5.2.1 for test with rear guard attached to the vehicle shall be applied to the test with rear guard attached to a test fixture.

    5.3 Test conduction

    Apply a horizontal force according to Table 1 of this Addendum to P1, P2 and P3 test locations, however not exceeding 100,000 N at P1 and P3 test locations and 150,000 N at P2.

TABLE 1 - APPLICATION OF FORCES

    5.4 Results

    The guard shall be evaluated by an institution or enterprise that have a test laboratory and is duly certified by the Brazilian supreme executive traffic agency - DENATRAN. The evaluator will issue a approval/refusal technical report comprising of at least the following data:

    a) Name of the guard manufacturer and fitter;
    b) Gross Vehicle Weight Rating;
    c) Magnitude of the forces applied to the P1, P2 and P3 test locations;
    d) Horizontal distance, measured after the test, between the rear edge of the horizontal member at the P1, P2 and P3 test locations and the reference on the chassis in the direction of the vehicle's rearmost axle;
    e) Description of the equipment used in the test.

    6. Approval and refusal of approval

    6.1 Regarding its dimensions, the guard is considered approved if it meets the requirements specified in Section 4 and in the Figures.
    6.2 The maximum permanent deformation after the test at the P1, P2 and P3 test locations, relative to their original positions shall not be over 125 mm.
    6.3 Cracks at the welds or fractures at the guard or chassis that were produced during the test will not be allowed.
    6.4 The approved rear guards shall be labeled with a weather resistant identification plate containing the following information:

 
a) Manufacturer's name;
b) Manufacturer's CNPJ number (Company’s National Register number);
c) Number of the approval report;
d) Name of the intitution or enterprise that approved the guard.
 

Figure 1

 

Figure 2

 

Figure 3