Driver and vehicle documents

DocumentMust you be able to show it?ValidityIssued byNote
Driving licenceYes — art. 160(1)(b)As a rule ten years from the date of applicationThe municipality issues it, the RDW keeps the registerA foreign licence counts under the same point (b), and if you also hold an international licence you must be able to show that too.
Vehicle registration (kentekencard)Yes — art. 160(1)(a). If you are towing a trailer, its registration as wellThe card itself has no expiry date; it is replaced when the vehicle is registered to a new ownerRDWFor a trailer with an identification plate you may comply within a period laid down by order in council (art. 160(2)) — so not necessarily on the spot.
Proof of insurance (green card)NO. It is not in the list of art. 160(1). The insurance itself IS compulsory — only the paper need not be carriedAs long as the policy runs; the cover itself is registered with the RDWThe insurerThe police can see from the registration number whether the vehicle is insured. Driving uninsured is therefore not "less visible" because you carry no paper — it is immediately visible.
APK — periodic roadworthiness testNO paper to carry. But a valid APK must exist: the date is registered with the RDWPetrol, alcohol or electric: first test at 4 years, then twice every 2 years, and from 8 years annually. Diesel, gas or other: first test at 3 years, then annually. From 30 years: once every 2 years. From 50 years: no APK obligation at all.An accredited tester; the result goes to the RDWAge counts from the date of first admission, not from your purchase. Test up to two months before expiry and you keep the same APK date plus one or two years — so testing early costs you no days.
Identity documentYes, but on a different basis: not the WVW but the Extended Identification Act. It applies from age 14 and therefore also to those not yet allowed to driveDiffers per document; it must be original and validThe municipality or the country of originFormally it is a duty to show, not to carry — but you cannot show what you do not have. The Dutch driving licence itself counts as a valid identity document, so as a driver you usually already carry one.

Notes

  1. The list in art. 160 is exhaustive, and that is the core of this table. What is not in it, you need not be able to show. Proof of insurance and the APK report are not in it: they are registered with the RDW and can be checked by registration number.
  2. The coach pass appears under point (f) in the same list as the driving licence. For a seventeen-year-old on 2toDrive the pass is therefore no formality but a document he must be able to show on first demand, just like his licence.
  3. "Handing over for inspection" is more than briefly holding something up. Art. 160 first requires you to bring the vehicle to a stop and then to hand over the documents properly for inspection — so hand them over, not flash them through a gap.
  4. A lighter version applies to those not driving a motor vehicle. Art. 160(3) also obliges the driver of another vehicle — a cyclist, for instance — to stop, but the list of documents there is far shorter.
  5. This article too carries the notice on wetten.overheid.nl that amendments have been adopted without a fixed date of entry into force. This table gives the text as of the verification date.

The law itself

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