Everyone in the vehicle lighting community is at least principally aware of the existence of SAE standards for vehicle lighting equipment in North America where UN vehicle equipment standards aren’t recognised. Most know that “SAE” refers to the Society of Automotive Engineers, originally an American industry professional association that has more recently rebranded and repositioned itself as “SAE International”. But the structure and function of the SAE Lighting Systems Group can be somewhat opaque from the perspective of those separated from its American activity hub by one or another of the oceans. A basic knowledge of who the SAE Lighting Systems Group are and what they do is practically prerequisite for the regulatory convergence discussions on the docket for the DVN Workshop forthcoming in January, hence this explanatory article.
For many years, the SAE Lighting Committee was the organisation facilitating and coördinating discussion amongst representatives of American automakers and lighting suppliers to devise technical standards for the various lighting devices and functions on roadgoing motor vehicles. These standards were principally designed to specify the negotiated and agreed industry practices within the North American traffic and industrial context, and were generally adhered to as a matter of voluntary industry standardisation. SAE lighting standards do not carry any legal force, and never have. It is important to understand that prior to 1968, there were no US Federal regulations on motor vehicle equipment. Each state had its own vehicle equipment code, and type approval was required by each and every state before an item of vehicle equipment could be offered for sale—either individually or as a piece of equipment on a vehicle. During that difficult era, SAE standards in conjunction with activities by such groups as the Automobile Manufacturers Association helped to guide all states toward common (or at least compatible equipment requirements). These efforts were more effective than might be thought from such a description; it is edifying to look, for example, at the success with which the 7-inch (180mm) round sealed-beam headlamp was adopted as the one and only type of headlamp on all vehicles sold in America starting in 1940, despite the complete lack of Federal regulation to initiate or enforce this.