Belts, child seats and seating
| What the rule says | What it turns on | Where it goes wrong | |
|---|---|---|---|
| When a child seat is required | For passengers younger than 18 AND shorter than 1.35 metres, in an approved child restraint system. | On the word “and”. Both conditions must hold; drop one and the ordinary belt suffices. | Remembering only one. “Up to 12” and “under 1.35 m” both circulate, and both are wrong: a tall ten-year-old needs no seat, a short sixteen-year-old does. |
| No more passengers than belts | If the passenger seats have belts, then no MORE passengers may sit there than there are belts. | On the belts, not on the seats. Three children in the back of a car with two rear belts is forbidden, however slim they are. | Overlooking this sentence: it is the third sentence of the same paragraph and is almost never quoted, though it is what decides how many people can come along. |
| The third child in the back | If a third child seat will not fit after two, a third passenger aged 3 or over and under 1.35 m may travel on the ORDINARY BELT — and not in the front seats. | On three conditions at once: aged 3 or over, in the back, AND the other two seats are actually IN USE. | Using the exception because the seat was left at home. It applies only when a third seat PHYSICALLY does not fit — not when it was forgotten. |
| Sitting in your own seat | While taking part in traffic the driver and passengers sit in the seats INTENDED FOR THEM. | On “intended”. A boot, an armrest or someone's lap is not a seat, even if a person fits. | Thinking the belt duty is the whole rule. Art. 58a stands beside it and is independent: without a seat of your own even a belt does not help. |
| Carrying people in the load area | Forbidden — in the OPEN as well as the CLOSED load area, and also in or on a trailer. | On open and closed being treated alike. A panel van is no exception; the exceptions are listed exhaustively in paragraph 2 (ambulance, police, fire service, wheelchair). | Reading it as “only on an open bed”. In a crash a closed load area is no safer: no belts, no crumple zone and no anchor points. |
| The helmet | Rider AND passengers of a moped, light moped, quadricycle without a closed body, motorcycle and three-wheeler without a closed body wear a well-fitting, approved helmet FASTENED by its strap. | On three requirements in one sentence: well-fitting, approved, and properly fastened on the head by the strap. All three at once. | Wearing the helmet unfastened. The law names the strap explicitly: an unfastened helmet does not comply, and in a fall it is the first thing to come off. |
The law itself
RVV1990 art. 59 lid 1RVV1990 art. 59a lid 1RVV1990 art. 59b lid 1RVV1990 art. 58a lid 1RVV1990 art. 61b lid 1RVV1990 art. 60 lid 1
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