Parking signs: the letter E
59 questions. The group is unusual because half its signs forbid nothing — they permit; and that is exactly why they get misread: a blue square is taken for “not allowed”.
Two different prohibitions
Dutch distinguishes two actions, and English “stopping” covers both:
- stilstaan — standing still however briefly, even for thirty seconds;
- parkeren — standing longer than it takes to let people in or out, or to
load and unload.
[E01](/en/signs/E01) forbids only parking: dropping a passenger off underneath it is fine. [E02](/en/signs/E02) forbids stilstaan — that is, everything, even a second.
The whole difference is written out in the [stopping and parking](/en/tables/stilstaan-parkeren) table.
Try it yourself: [parking signs](/en/oefenen?onderwerp=signs-parking) — 59 questions.
The blue square permits
[E04](/en/signs/E04) — you may park here. The group then narrows down for whom: [E06](/en/signs/E06) only with a disabled card, [E08](/en/signs/E08) only the category shown, [E09](/en/signs/E09) only permit holders, [E05](/en/signs/E05) only taxis, [E07](/en/signs/E07) only for immediate loading and unloading.
Two signs are about transferring: [E12](/en/signs/E12) — leave the car and go on by public transport, [E13](/en/signs/E13) — go on together.
Try it yourself: [stopping and parking](/en/oefenen?onderwerp=stopping-parking) — 31 questions.
The parking disc
[E10](/en/signs/E10) opens a [disc zone](/en/glossary/blauwe-zone): parking is allowed, but the disc showing your time of arrival must lie behind the windscreen. It applies until [E11](/en/signs/E11), the end of the zone.
A zone counts for every street inside it, not up to the next junction. That is the shared property of zones, and it is where mistakes most often happen.
Try it yourself: [zone](/en/glossary/zone) — the term in the glossary; [parking signs](/en/oefenen?onderwerp=signs-parking) — 59 questions.
Sometimes there is no sign at all
Some parking prohibitions are shown by nothing: art. 23 and 24 name the places themselves where you may not stand — at a crossing, on a junction, at a bus stop. The metres are in the [distances](/en/tables/afstanden) table.
A sign is needed where the law is silent; where the law has already forbidden something, no sign will stand.
Try it yourself: [stopping and parking](/en/oefenen?onderwerp=stopping-parking) — 31 questions.
What to remember
Determine the colour first: a red circle is a prohibition, a blue square a permission. For red, ask what exactly is forbidden — parking, or standing still as well. For blue, ask for whom. And remember that part of the prohibitions live in the statute, not on a pole.