21.1. 97 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 18/7 DIRECTIVE 96/79/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 16 December 1996 on the protection of occupants of motor vehicles in the event of a frontal impact and amending Directive 70/156/EEC THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 100a thereof, Having regard to Council Directive 70/156/EEC of 6 February 1970 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the type-approval of motor vehicles and their trailers('), and in particular Article 13 (4) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (3), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (3), Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189b of the Treaty (*), Whereas the total harmonization of technical requirements for motor vehicles is necessary in order fully to achieve the internal market; Whereas, in order to reduce the number of road accident casualties in Furope, it is necessary to introduce legislative measures for improving the protection of occupants of motor vehicles in the event of a frontal impact as much as possible; whereas this Directive introduces frontal impact test requirements, including biomechanical criteria, to ensure that a high level of protection in the event of a frontal impact is provided; Whereas the aim of this Directive is to introduce requirements based on the results of research conducted by the European Experimental Vehicles Committee allowing the establishment of test criteria which are more representative of actual road accidents; Whereas lead times are required by vehicle manufacturers for the implementation of acceptable test criteria; (1) OJ No L 42, 23. 2. 1970, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Commission Directive 95/54/EC (O] No L 266, 8. 11. 1995, p. 1). (3) O] No C 396, 31. 12. 1994, p. 34. (®) OJ No C 256, 2. 10. 1995, p. 21. (*) Opinion of the European Parliament of 12 July 1995 (O] No C 249, 25. 9. 1995, p. 50), Council common position of 28 May 1996 (OJ No C 219, 27. 7. 1996, p. 22) and Decision of the European Parliament of 19 September 1996 (O] No C 320, 28. 10. 1996, p. 149). Council Decision of 25 October 1996. Whereas, to avoid duplication of standards, it is necessary to exempt vehicles which comply with the requirements of this Directive from the need to comply with now superseded requirements in another Directive in respect of the behaviour of the steering wheel and column in an impact; . Whereas this Directive will be one of the separate directives which must be complied with in order to ensure the conformity of vehicles with the requirements of the EC type-approval procedure established by Directive 70/156/EEC; whereas, therefore, the provisions of Directive 70/156/EEC relating to vehicle systems, components and separate technical units apply to this Directive; Whereas the procedure for determining the seating reference point in motor vehicles is given in Annex III to Council Directive 77/649/EEC of 27 September 1977 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the field of vision of motor vehicle drivers (5); whereas it is therefore unnecessary to repeat it in this Directive; whereas reference should be made in this Directive to Council Directive 74/297/EEC of 4 June 1974 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the interior fittings of motor vehicles (the behaviour of the steering mechanism in the event of an impact) (*); whereas reference is made to the United States of America Code of Federal Regulations (), HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: Article 1 For the purposes of this Directive, ‘vehicle’ shall have the meaning given to it in Article 2 of Directive 70/156/EEC. Article 2 1. No Member State may, on grounds concerning the protection of occupants of vehicles in the event of a frontal impact: (*) OJ No L 267, 19. 10. 1977, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Commission Directive 90/630/EEC (O] No L 341, 6. 12. 1990, p. 20). (®) O] No L 1685, 20. 6. 1974, p. 16. Directive as last amended by Commission Directive 91/662/EEC (O] No L 366, 31. 12. 1991, p. 1). () United States of America Code of Federal Regulations, Title 49, Chapter V, Part 572.