How the Dutch road is put together
This first lesson is not about rules but about words. Almost every rule in the RVV opens with “on the carriageway”, “on the cycle path”, “in a home zone” — and if you cannot tell those apart at a glance, there is nothing to apply the rule to.
The road is more than the asphalt for cars
Weg is the whole thing: carriageway, verge, cycle path, pavement. Rijbaan is only the part vehicles drive on. The difference is not linguistic: parking bans are written about the carriageway, priority for pedestrians about the crossing on the road.
| Part | Who belongs here |
|---|---|
rijbaan | cars, motorcycles, microcars |
fiets/bromfietspad | bicycles and mopeds |
verplicht fietspad | bicycles; the moped does not belong |
trottoir | pedestrians |
More on each word in the glossary and at fietspad.
Try it yourselfposition on the road →40 questions
The built-up area starts at a sign, not at the houses
Bebouwde kom is not “where the buildings are” but the stretch between sign H01 and sign H02. Inside, one set of speed limits applies; outside, another. Houses have nothing to do with it.
Signs: H01 — start and H02 — end.
Try it yourselfspeed →86 questions
The home zone is a world of its own
The erf (sign G05) turns the usual picture upside down: pedestrians may use the full width, you drive at walking pace, and you park only in marked bays. Not a “courtyard”, but a full legal regime with its own start and end sign.
Try it yourselfhome zones →27 questions
What to remember
Before working out who yields, answer two questions: which part of the road am I on, and am I inside or outside the built-up area. Half the mistakes on the exam are a correct rule applied to the wrong part of the road.