Reglement verkeersregels en verkeerstekens 1990 · read as a US driver

Dutch Roads for US Drivers

You already drive on the right, so most of the Netherlands feels familiar until the first unsigned crossroads, where the car on your right goes first, and the first red light, where nobody turns. This page covers the rules that differ from the United States, the signs whose shapes mean something else, and how to walk through a city where the bicycle is the dominant vehicle. Speeds are in km/h throughout, with the mph next to them.

Start here

Seven things that will get you honked at, ticketed, or hit in week one

Each one is a habit from US driving that is wrong in the Netherlands. Everything else on this page is detail.

    Snelheid

    Speed limits

    The limit is rarely posted on ordinary streets. You read it from the type of road you are on: a blue town-name sign puts you at 50, a rural road with no sign is 80, a motorway is 100 by day. Cameras deduct 3 km/h before fining you and then fine you anyway.

    Drag the dial
    50km/h
    31 mph
    RoadLimitIn mph

    Motorway limits changed in 2020 (100 km/h by day nationwide) and a few stretches have since gone back to 130 all day. The sign on the gantry is the law, not this table. A sign with a time plate such as 6–19 h applies only in those hours.

    Voorrang

    Who goes first?

    The Netherlands has almost no four-way stops. Order at a crossing comes from three sources, in this order: signs and markings, then the special rules for trams, driveways and turning traffic, then the default that traffic from the right goes first. Pick a scenario, decide, then reveal. The blue vehicle, or the pink walker, is you.

    You (driving)You (walking)Other carCyclistTram
    Verkeersborden

    Sign decoder

    Dutch signs follow the Vienna Convention, so shape and colour carry the meaning before you read anything: a red ring forbids, a blue disc commands, a red-edged triangle warns, and the yellow diamond that means caution in the US means you have priority here. Letters are the codes from the traffic code's appendix, which is how Dutch driving schools refer to them.

    Te voet

    On foot among the bikes

    Most visitors from the US meet Dutch traffic on foot first, and the vehicle that hits them is a bicycle. Cyclists here ride at 20 km/h in silence, in both directions, on paths that often look like sidewalks. The pedestrian scenarios in the intersection game above use these rules; this is the practical version.

      VOETPAD FIETSPAD PARKEREN RIJBAAN TRAM
      A typical city street from the building line outward: sidewalk (voetpad), red-asphalt bike path (fietspad), parked cars, the carriageway, tram rails. The bike path is the one you will step onto by accident. The pink figure is where you should be.
      Cijfers

      The numbers, side by side

      The US column describes the most common state rules; your state may differ. The Dutch column is national law.

      TopicNetherlandsTypical US

      What it costs

      Fixed penalties as set for 2025, rounded, before the administration fee of about €9. Tariffs rise every January; the current table is at boetebase.om.nl. Speeding by more than 30 km/h in town, or 40 km/h on the motorway, is no longer a fixed penalty but a summons.

        Theorie-examen, light

        Test yourself

        Twelve questions in the style of the Dutch theory exam. Your best score is kept in this browser only.

        Onderborden

        Dutch words you will see under signs

        A sign's meaning is often narrowed or widened by a small white plate beneath it. These are the words that do the narrowing.

        Praktisch

        Before you drive