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.

More on each word in the [glossary](/en/glossary/rijbaan) and at [fietspad](/en/glossary/fietspad).

Try it yourself: [position on the road](/en/oefenen?onderwerp=positioning-on-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](/en/signs/H01) and [H02 — end](/en/signs/H02).

Try it yourself: [speed](/en/oefenen?onderwerp=speed-limits) — 86 questions.

The home zone is a world of its own

The `erf` (sign [G05](/en/signs/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 yourself: [home zones](/en/oefenen?onderwerp=erf-woonerf) — 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.

All the numbers are in the [speeds](/en/tables/speeds) and [distances](/en/tables/afstanden) tables.