Amendments to PBS Frontal Swing Requirements

Amendments to the PBS Frontal Swing standard will begin from today (April 1 2020).

NHVR’s Chief Engineer, Les Bruzsa said the increase will allow for greater flexibility for PBS vehicle designs.

“The rigid truck and prime mover performance measure of 0.7m has been found to be restrictive for twin-steer and longer wheelbase PBS vehicles, especially when fitted with bull bars,” Les said.

“Increasing the performance measures to 0.85m will address industry concerns and will reduce the need for PBS vehicles to obtain frontal swing exemptions, especially A-Double and truck and dog combinations.”

The NHVR is continuing the review the other PBS standards, noting that  low-speed performance standards such as Low Speed Swept Path and Tail Swing will not change as a result of the Frontal Swing increase at this stage.

The endorsed amendment will be updated in the Performance-Based Standards Scheme – the Standards and Vehicle Assessment Rules and available on the NHVR website at https://www.nhvr.gov.au/road-access/performance-based-standards/guidelines-and-rules

Table 1. Frontal Swing Amendment Summary