On the motorway — joining, changing lanes, leaving
| What the rule says | Where it goes wrong | What you do | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joining from the slip road | Art. 54 names “joining the through carriageway from the slip road” expressly as a special manoeuvre: YOU give way to the other traffic. The indicator is mandatory (art. 55). | Counting on “zip merging”. A rule obliging the through lane to make room is NOT in the RVV. Whoever assumes it hits the barrier when the other driver does not play along. | Accelerate on the slip road to the speed of the through carriageway and enter a real gap, not one you hope will appear. |
| Changing lanes | “Changing lane” is also in the list in art. 54: the other traffic goes first. And art. 3(1) keeps applying — keep as far right as possible. | Staying in the left lane after overtaking. Art. 3(1) is not advice; the left lane is for passing, not for cruising. | Mirror, indicator, shoulder check, and only then steer — and back to the right after overtaking. |
| Hard shoulder, refuge, verge | Forbidden to use, EXCEPT in emergencies. Art. 73 repeats it under the red cross: the hard shoulder may be used only in emergencies. | Treating a traffic jam as an emergency. Stationary traffic is not an emergency; the shoulder must stay clear precisely because the ambulance needs it then. | Stay off it; use it only in a breakdown or emergency, then as far right as possible and with hazard lights. |
| Turning round and reversing | Both forbidden on motorway AND expressway. No exception is given — not even for a missed exit. | Thinking the ban concerns the motorway only. Paragraph 1 names both road types in the same sentence. | With a missed exit, drive on to the next one. That costs minutes; turning round costs lives. |
| Standing on the carriageway | Forbidden on the CARRIAGEWAY of motorway and expressway. The hard shoulder is a separate rule (para. 3), and there the issue is not standing but USING. | Thinking that standing on the hard shoulder is forbidden too. In a breakdown the hard shoulder is exactly where you belong. | Never come to a stop on the carriageway. If you can still drive, continue to a refuge or an exit. |
| Lorries and long combinations | On a carriageway with THREE or more lanes a lorry and a combination longer than 7 metres may use only the two rightmost lanes — except to get into position. | Applying it to two lanes. With two lanes the ban does not apply, and a lorry may simply overtake on the left. | As a car driver you know where lorries must be, and you keep the left lane clear for those going faster. |
The law itself
RVV1990 art. 43 lid 1RVV1990 art. 43 lid 2RVV1990 art. 43 lid 3RVV1990 art. 43 lid 4RVV1990 art. 54RVV1990 art. 55RVV1990 art. 73RVV1990 art. 3 lid 1
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