Trailers and towing
| Situation | Maximum mass of the combination | Maximum trailer mass | Speed limit | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plain category B, no code | Two cases. If the trailer weighs no more than 750 kg, point (e) names no limit for the combination — a 3500 kg car with a 750 kg trailer therefore comes to 4250 kg and that is allowed. If the trailer weighs more than 750 kg, the combination must stay under 3500 kg. | 750 kg unconditionally; more only within the 3500 kg of the combination | 50 inside the built-up area, 80 outside it, 90 on expressways and motorways | The rule closes with a proviso: everything depends on the data in the vehicle registration. The law therefore gives an upper limit, and the registration of your own car may be stricter. What your car is permitted to tow is stated there, not in the statute. |
| Category B with code 96 | More than 3500 kg, but not more than 4250 kg | More than 750 kg — below that you do not need the code | The same as B without the code — 50 / 80 / 90 | Not a licence category of its own but an endorsement on your B. You obtain it by sitting the E practical exam and then, under art. 21(2), asking for a B with the code instead of a full BE. |
| Category BE | There is no fixed upper limit; what counts is the mass of the trailer itself and what the towing vehicle can handle | No more than 3500 kg. Heavier is allowed only for a semi-trailer or centre-axle trailer, and then under two further conditions on coupling load and axle loads. | Also 50 / 80 / 90 — the speed rule looks at the trailer, not at your licence | The exam is heavier than many expect: the towing vehicle must exceed 1750 kg and the trailer must be at least 6 metres long and exceed 1750 kg permitted mass, with two axles of which at most one is steered. Minimum age 18. |
| Towing a broken-down motor vehicle | The RVV names no mass. Towing is not a trailer: the towed vehicle remains a motor vehicle with a driver in it | Not applicable | No separate towing limit in the RVV; the ordinary maximum speeds of arts. 20 and 21 apply, and art. 19 obliges you to be able to stop within your sight distance | The only rule of its own is art. 53: the distance between the rear of the towing vehicle and the front of the towed vehicle may not exceed five metres. For the rest, all ordinary driver duties apply to the towed vehicle, including the lighting duty of art. 32. |
| Load projecting at the rear | Here the limit is not mass but LENGTH: the load may not project more than 1.00 m beyond the rear. | The rule is in the Regeling voertuigen, not in the RVV — which is why people so often fail to find it. | The load does not change your speed; what changes is your length, your centre of gravity and your swing-out. | An indivisible load may project more than 1.00 m (art. 5.18.13 lid 1), but must then carry a marking at the rear. |
Notes
- The 750 kg is a limit with two faces. Stay below it and point (e) sets no requirement for the combination. Go above it and the 3500 kg limit for the whole suddenly applies. Fifty kilos of difference in the trailer can therefore decide whether you are still driving on B or not.
- Permitted maximum mass is not the same as what is currently loaded. The law reckons with the PERMITTED maximum mass from the papers, not with the mass at this moment. An empty trailer rated at 1300 kg remains a 1300 kg trailer in law, even with nothing in it.
- Code 96 is not a "BE light" in the sense of a lighter exam. You sit the same E practical exam; you merely ask afterwards for a B with the code instead of a BE. The difference lies in what you may then tow, not in what you must be able to do.
- The speed limit attaches to the trailer, not to your licence. As soon as something is hitched behind your car, 80 applies outside the built-up area and 90 on expressways and motorways — whether you drive on B, on B with code 96, or on BE.
- Towing a vehicle and pulling a trailer are two different things in law. A trailer is a vehicle without a driver of its own; a towed motor vehicle has one. That is why the licence mass rules do not govern towing, and why the RVV contains only one towing article, about five metres of distance.
The law itself
ReglementRijbewijzen art. 15 lid 1 onderdeel eReglementRijbewijzen art. 15 lid 5ReglementRijbewijzen art. 15 lid 1 onderdeel k onder IReglementRijbewijzen art. 21 lid 2ReglementRijbewijzen art. 72 lid 2RVV1990 art. 53RVV1990 art. 21RegelingVoertuigen art. 5.18.12 lid 1RegelingVoertuigen art. 5.18.13 lid 1
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