Speed limits
| Vehicle | Built-up area (bebouwde kom)(km/h) | Outside built-up area(km/h) | Expressway (autoweg)(km/h) | Motorway (autosnelweg)(km/h) | Living zone (erf) | Where it goes wrong |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Car | 50 | 80 | 100 | 130 under art. 21 RVV, but almost the entire network is signed 100 during the day (06:00–19:00). The sign overrides the statutory default. | walking pace (stapvoets) | Taking the 130 on the motorway for a fixed figure. It is a TIME-OF-DAY limit: during the day the lower value applies, and it is on the signs. |
| Car with trailer (≤ 3500 kg) | 50 | 80 | 90 | 90 | walking pace (stapvoets) | Keeping the car's limit because the trailer is light. The trailer changes the category, not its weight. |
| Moped 45 km/h (bromfiets) | 45 on the carriageway, 30 on the cycle/moped path | 45 on the carriageway, 40 on the cycle/moped path | not allowed | not allowed | walking pace (stapvoets) | Remembering one figure for the moped. Its limit depends on WHERE it rides — the cycle/moped path differs from the carriageway. |
| Moped 25 km/h (snorfiets) | 25 | 25 | not allowed | not allowed | walking pace (stapvoets) | Confusing the light moped with the moped. They are two legal categories with two different limits — and different helmet rules. |
| Motorcycle | 50 | 80 | 100 | 130 under art. 21, in practice 100 during the day due to signage | walking pace (stapvoets) | Assuming a motorcycle may go faster than a car. The same limit applies to motor vehicles; the motorcycle is one of them. |
| Truck (> 3500 kg) | 50 | 80 | 80 | 80 | walking pace (stapvoets) | Applying the lorry limit to every van. The line runs at the permitted maximum mass, not at the appearance. |
| Bus | 50 | 80 | 80 | 80, and 100 for T100 buses | walking pace (stapvoets) | Treating all buses alike. The T100 bus has its own, higher limit, and that is the only exception in the row. |
Notes
- This table gives the statutory defaults from the RVV. For speed, the **lowest** applicable value always wins (art. 63b RVV): a sign can lower the limit, but it cannot raise it above the special maxima of arts. 20b, 21b, 22 and 22a. A truck passing a "100" sign is still limited to 80.
- If a fixed sign and an electronic gantry sign show different limits at the same time, the lower one applies (art. 63b para. 2).
- "Stapvoets" is not a number in the law. It means: no faster than a person walking — in practice roughly 15 km/h.
- Bromfiets and snorfiets are two legally distinct categories. Do not confuse them: it is a 20 km/h difference and a different place on the road.
The law itself
- RVV1990 art. 20
«Binnen de bebouwde kom gelden de volgende maximumsnelheden: a. voor motorvoertuigen 50 km per uur;»
- RVV1990 art. 21
«Buiten de bebouwde kom gelden de volgende maximumsnelheden: a. voor motorvoertuigen op autosnelwegen 130 km per uur, op autowegen 100 km per uur en op andere wegen 80 km per uur»
- RVV1990 art. 22
«Voor zover niet ingevolge andere artikelen van dit besluit een lagere maximumsnelheid geldt, gelden voor de volgende voertuigen de volgende bijzondere maximumsnelheden: a. voor kampeerwagens die volgens het kentekenbewijs behoren tot de categorie bedrijfsauto's en waarvan de toegestane maximummassa meer bedraagt dan 3500 kg, vrachtauto's en autobussen, niet zijnde T100-bussen, 80 km per uur»
- Rijksoverheid Maximumsnelheid overdag 100 km/u op autosnelwegen (сигнализация знаками)
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