International Legal Requirements, Safety and Operating Specifications Werner K. Schmidt Daimler-Benz AG Mid-Year Meeting Chicago, III. May 17-21, 1965 650456 Downloaded from SAE International by University of Edinburgh, Sunday, August 26, 2018International Legal Requirements, Safety and Operating Specifications Werner K. Schmidt Daimler-Benz AG IN GENERAL, TRAFFIC LAWS rule both on the administra­ tive and technical side of traffic, whereby matters of insur­ ance, taxation, and punishment (in case of violation) are included. The traffic laws are valid for all types of traffic, that is, they also apply to pedestrians and even animal drawn vehicles. The following thoughts concern only the design, devel­ opment, and production of vehicles powered by combustion engines and operated on land, and concentrate on the tech­ nical aspects, with particular emphasis on those matters which are of special interest to automobile or equipment manufacturers. Naturally, every manufacturer is well aware of the legal requirements of his own country. With the growing exporta­ tion of vehicles, however, it is necessary to also obtain suf­ ficient knowledge on the legal requirements of the export countries. This is often quite difficult for several reasons: 1. Some countries wish to protect their own industries by setting up rules which are technically unquestionable. 2. Some countries still adhere to regulations set up dec­ ades ago, thus ignoring technical developments. 3. Some countries establish technical regulations which are based on political or economical facts; therefore, they do not seem to be logical from a technical point of view. - 4. Some authorities responsible for legal regulations are guided by foreign advisers who are narrow-minded to the extent that they only think of their own industry, thus pre­ venting worldwide competition which benefits all 5. Language and translation problems can prevent ef­ fective communication between nations. UNIFORMITY AND DIFFERENCES IN LEGAL REQUIREMENTS OF VARIOUS COUNTRIES It is obvious (and still surprising) to realize how much uniformity does already exist. Every motor vehicle through­ out the world has at least two headlamps, two rear lamps, some means of directional turn signals, some instrumenta­ tion, two braking systems, and so on. This list could be ex­ tended to any length. However, despite the many seeming areas of uniformity which do exist, differences cometo light when details are considered. For example, are the head­ lamps white or yellowish; are they symmetrical or asym­ metrical; what is the adjustment for both low beam and high beam; and soon with regard to wattage, light effi­ ciency, and installation methods. Of course, it should be realized that the above statement rep­ resents a simplification, and that there are very important rea­ sons behind the facts which we all have to face nowadays. WHAT DOES "LEGAL REQUIREMENT" MEAN? - The term " legal requirement" is used in this paper to cover every requirement issued on a legal basis by an authority hav- ABSTRACT The need for uniform legal requirements covering motor vehicles is evident when one considers the existing dispa­ rities in regulations not only between nations but within the states comprising a country (for example, the United States). Some of these differences are discussed, including measures taken by manufacturers to conform with the laws of the coun­ tries to which they export their products. It is stressed that some degree of uniformity in this area would not only be economical to both the producer and customer, but would also result in additional safety for all concerned. Downloaded from SAE International by University of Edinburgh, Sunday, August 26, 20182 ing the right to do so. Authorities differ in various coun­ tries, as do the procedures which finally lead to the promul­ gation of legal requirements. The traffic laws issued by these authorities will be the subj