Driving is an essential part of our life, however, some people may encounter physical or cognitive limitations that give reason to drive adapted vehicles. This might become evident during the application for a first driving license, or after many years because of changes in the health situation.
At EU level, part of the car-adaptation industry has worked hard and consciously to design and manufacture products that fall within the national legislation, and comply with industry and/or in-house standards for product performance and product liability.
Being aware of the importance of making car-adaptations safe, and also realising that the expertise in this field is relatively scarce, the leading car-adaptation companies in the EU joined efforts to make the existing knowledge available by developing industry protocols for the adaptation of vehicles for drivers with physical and/or cognitive limitations.
The aim of this so-called Car-Adaptation Protocol Initiative (CAPI) is to ensure mobility, independence and safety for disabled and elderly persons using adapted motor vehicles. CAPI could draw upon existing knowledge within the industry as well as available standards, (national) best practice documents, (voluntary) accreditation schemes around the world and the results of the European Commission funded QUAVADIS project.
CEN Workshop Agreement
The objective of the Workshop is to agree on an accepted framework to assess manufacturing, installation and performance of car-adaptations for drivers and passengers with physical and/or cognitive limitations, in cases where the existing procedures, regulations and/or legislation are not applicable because of the different abilities or constraints of the disabled drivers or passengers and/or the variety of vehicles the adaptation(s) will be used in.
For the (end) customer the framework should lead to a suitable and affordable driving situation whereby the risks are at an acceptable level if compared to the risks covered in the non-adapted situation. For the car-adaptation industry, the framework should support the manufacturer and/or installer to bear the responsibility for the safety, suitability and reliability of the product as delivered to the customer.
The workshop is proposed by the Car-Adaptation Protocol Initiative (CAPI)
CEN Workshop Status
The kick-off meeting of the workshop took place at the CEN-CENELEC Meeting Centre in Brussels, on 22 October 2012.
The first plenary Workshop meeting was held in the CEN-CENELEC Meeting Centre in Brussels on 23 October.
Contact Points
Workshop Secretariat
Frank T.M.B. Kortstee
NEN - Nederlands Normalisatie-instituut
Vlinderweg 6
2623 AX Delft
tel:+ 31 15 2 690 373
E-mail
web:www.nen.nl
CEN-CENELEC Management Centre
Monica Ibido
Programme Manager
CEN & CENELEC Management Centre
Avenue Marnix, 17
1000 Brussels
Tel.: +32 2 550 08
Fax: +32 2 550 0819
E-mail
Web: www.cen.eu