scope:

The objective of the passive safety requirements in this Standard is to reduce the risk of passenger injury and damage to equipment resulting from collision accidents by providing a means of protection when other possibilities of preventing an accident have failed. In the event of a collision, application of this Standard provides protection for the occupants of new designs of crashworthy vehicles through the preservation of structural integrity and reducing the risk of overriding and limiting decelerations. This Standard does not extend to the design of the vehicle interior structures that may help reduce injury risk caused by impact between the occupants and the vehicle interior, beyond limiting vehicle acceleration and consequential secondary impact velocity of passengers colliding with interior surfaces. In addition, this Standard provides measures for design of light rail vehicles (LRVs) and streetcars with the goal of reducing risks to street vehicles and pedestrians when involved in collisions.

Subjects Not Addressed by This Standard

There are several design considerations related to safety that are not addressed in this Standard, such as the following:

(a) structural repairs

(b) fatigue

(c) corrosion

(d) fire protection

(e) interior vehicle design

(f) emergency egress from vehicle

(g) inspection and maintenance

(h) operator seat belt

Effective Date

This Standard applies to newly constructed light rail vehicles and streetcars for transit passenger service ordered 180 days following the date of issuance of this Standard that is issued by the Rail Transit Vehicle (RTV) Standards Committee and ASME.