UN ECE R48
Uniform provisions concerning the approval of vehicles with regard to the installation of lighting and light-signalling devices
| Issuing body | UNECE |
|---|---|
| Committees | UNECE (WP.29, GRE) |
| First issued | 1976 |
| Latest revision | 2024 |
| Status | active |
| Category | international |
| Topics | glare, headlamp_performance, night_driving, vehicle_conspicuity |
| Reference | https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2025-04/R048r13e_0.pdf |
Scope
Governs which lighting and light-signalling devices a vehicle (categories M, N, O) must carry and, critically, where they are mounted, how they are aimed, and how they are switched and indicated to the driver. Determines what the driver sees of the road ahead (headlamp installation/levelling) and what signals other drivers perceive (position, stop, indicator, fog and conspicuity lamps). Revision 13 (December 2024) is the current consolidated text; the device-level performance sits in R148/R149/R150.
Related Papers (20)
- Roadside Assistance Vehicle Lighting: Review of Scientific Research and State Regulations · 2025 · paper relates to standard · 0.66 (embedding)
- Public Roads: A Journal of Highway Research and Development, Vol. 51 No. 2 · 1987 · paper relates to standard · 0.65 (embedding)
- Minimum retroreflectivity levels for overhead guide signs and street-name signs · 2003 · paper relates to standard · 0.64 (embedding)
- Driver Vision: Bibliography · 1963 · paper relates to standard · 0.64 (embedding)
- Overhead guide sign retroreflectivity and illumination. · 2015 · paper relates to standard · 0.63 (embedding)
- CHARACTERISTICS AND NEEDS FOR OVERHEAD GUIDE SIGN ILLUMINATION FROM VEHICULAR HEADLAMPS ↗ · 1999 · paper relates to standard · 0.63 (embedding)
- UPDATED MINIMUM RETROREFLECTIVITY LEVELS FOR TRAFFIC SIGNS ↗ · 2003 · paper relates to standard · 0.63 (embedding)
- UNECE transport review : first edition--November 2008. · 2008 · paper relates to standard · 0.63 (embedding)
- Roadway Lighting Handbook · 1978 · paper relates to standard · 0.62 (embedding)
- Nighttime Highway Construction Illumination [URTC Report] · 2014 · paper relates to standard · 0.62 (embedding)
- A Safety Evaluation of UVA Vehicle Headlights · 1998 · paper relates to standard · 0.62 (embedding)
- Study to Understand the Influence of Emergency Vehicle Color, Reflectance, Signing/Arrow Boards, and Lighting Configurations in Reducing Responder Involved Crashes · 2025 · paper relates to standard · 0.61 (embedding)
- Assessment of headlamp glare and potential countermeasures : the effects of headlamp mounting height · 2008 · paper relates to standard · 0.61 (embedding)
- Use of high intensity reflective sheeting in lieu of external lighting of overhead roadway signs. · 2013 · paper relates to standard · 0.61 (embedding)
- Web-Based Training for FHWA Roadway Lighting Workshop Module 1: Roadway Lighting Design Overview · 2018 · paper relates to standard · 0.61 (embedding)
- Applying the sign luminance computation model to study the effects of other vehicles on sign luminance · 2014 · paper relates to standard · 0.60 (embedding)
- Vehicle kinematics in turns and the role of cornering lamps in driver vision. · 2010 · paper relates to standard · 0.60 (embedding)
- Work vehicle warning lights : color options and effectiveness. · 2015 · paper relates to standard · 0.60 (embedding)
- Report of the Committee on the Motor Vehicle · 1924 · paper relates to standard · 0.60 (embedding)
- Minimum Retroreflectivity Requirements for Traffic Signs · 1993 · paper relates to standard · 0.60 (embedding)