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Road rules abroad

Netherlands → Belgium

Driving in Belgium when you know the Netherlands

Differences first, worst-to-get-wrong first. Rules that match are folded away at the bottom.

Driving to Belgium from the Netherlands: what to check before you go

These are the key destination rules to check first. The comparison below shows every verified difference. Follow local signs and instructions on the road.

Which side of the road do you drive on in Belgium?
In Belgium you drive on the right.
What is the speed limit in Belgium?
120 km/h on motorways, 90 km/h on country roads, 50 km/h in towns and cities and 20 km/h in residential and living zones. Those are the national default limits, which apply where no sign says otherwise.
What is the drink driving limit in Belgium?
The legal limit in Belgium is 0.5 g/l.
What do you have to carry in your car in Belgium?
You must carry a warning triangle, a high-visibility vest, a fire extinguisher and a first aid kit.

Read the full driving rules in Belgium and the required car equipment in Belgium .

Looking to rent a car? Rental agencies often have there own rules on driving ages and equipment, make sure you check with them before you travel.
We earn a commission if you book through this link, at no extra cost to you. How we make money.

What's different (9)

Speed limit on the motorway

Critical
Netherlands · home100 km/hDuring the day, 06:00 to 19:00, on nearly all motorways. In the evening and at night most rise to 120 or 130, and a few routes are 130 all day. The overhead matrix signs always show the limit that applies — follow them, not the clock.Checked 6 Aug 2026
Belgium · destination120 km/hUnless a sign says otherwise, which on the Brussels ring it often does.Checked 16 Aug 2026 · official source

Speed limit on country roads

CriticalVaries by region
Netherlands · home80 km/hOrdinary roads outside built-up areas, below the autoweg class.Checked 6 Aug 2026
Belgium · destination90 km/h90 in Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region. Flanders is 70 — see below.Checked 16 Aug 2026 · official source
Flanders70 km/h20 km/h lower than Wallonia and Brussels, on the same kind of road. The change is not announced at the regional border.Checked 16 Aug 2026 · official source

What you must carry in the car

Critical
Netherlands · homeNothing — no equipment is legally requiredNothing is legally required. The government says so in as many words: you do not have to carry a warning triangle, and you do not have to carry a safety vest. You must still warn approaching traffic if your stopped car is an obstruction, but hazard lights satisfy that — which is why a triangle is useful here rather than compulsory.Checked 19 Aug 2026
Belgium · destination
  • Warning triangle
  • High-visibility vest
  • Fire extinguisher
  • First aid kit
Four items, which is more than most of Europe asks for. The extinguisher and the first aid kit are the ones visitors do not expect — check a hire car has both before you drive away. They go with the car's number plate rather than the driver, so they are required in a Belgian-registered car, hire cars included, and not in a car you drove in on foreign plates. One vest is required, for the driver, and must be worn if you leave the car on a motorway; vests for passengers are advised rather than required.Checked 19 Aug 2026 · official source

Youngest age you may drive

Important
Netherlands · home17 yearsUnder 18 you may only drive with a registered coach beside you, and you must carry the coach pass. On your own, 18.Checked 16 Aug 2026
Belgium · destination18 yearsThe practical test itself cannot be taken before 18.Checked 16 Aug 2026 · official source

Largest motorbike or scooter you may ride on a car licence

Important
Netherlands · home
  • Engine up to 50 cc
  • Top speed up to 45 km/h
A Dutch car licence (B) gets category AM added automatically, with no extra exam — that rule is on the Rijksoverheid licence page. AM covers mopeds, scooters, light mopeds, speed pedelecs and microcars. The RDW defines the light two-wheeler class they belong to by both limits at once: an engine of at most 50 cc and a top speed of 45 km/h. Nothing larger is covered. The RDW page on foreign licences does not say whether a foreign B licence gets the same allowance.Checked 2 Sep 2026
Belgium · destination
  • Engine up to 50 cc
  • Power up to 4 kW
  • Top speed up to 45 km/h
A Belgian category B licence includes category AM automatically, and the ministry's AM page defines the class it covers (bromfiets klasse B) as a two-wheeler with an engine of at most 50 cc and a design speed of between 25 and 45 km/h; the 4 kW limit is the power of an electric motor. The same inclusion is stated on the ministry's category B page. Riding a 125 cc motorbike (category A1, up to 11 kW) on a B licence needs code 372 added to the licence: B held for at least 2 years and issued after 30 April 2011, plus 4 hours of practical lessons at an approved driving school. Code 372 is valid in Belgium only. The ministry pages do not say whether foreign car licences get the moped allowance.Checked 2 Sep 2026 · official source

What a rider must wear or carry

Important
Netherlands · homeNothing beyond a helmetThe government says protective clothing is not compulsory, only important. Nothing beyond the helmet is legally required on the road.Checked 2 Sep 2026
Belgium · destination
  • Gloves
  • Protective jacket
  • Boots
Article 36 of the traffic code. Rider and passenger of a motorbike must wear gloves, a jacket with long sleeves, long trousers or an overall, and boots or ankle boots that protect the ankles. Long trousers are also required but are not in this list. The clothing rule is for motorbikes; it does not apply to mopeds.Checked 2 Sep 2026 · official source

Riding between lanes of slow traffic

Good to know
Netherlands · homeAllowedRiding between the cars in a traffic jam is allowed. The law does not regulate it; a code of conduct does. Keep to the gap between the two left-hand lanes and ride no more than 10 km/h faster than the cars.Checked 2 Sep 2026
Belgium · destinationAllowed, with restrictionsArticle 16.2bis of the traffic code. A motorbike may ride between two lanes or queues of stopped or slow traffic. The rider may not go faster than 50 km/h, and may not go more than 20 km/h faster than the traffic in those lanes. On motorways and on roads for motor traffic only, the rider must use the gap between the two left-hand lanes. This applies to motorbikes, not mopeds.Checked 2 Sep 2026 · official source

Smallest motorbike allowed on the motorway

Good to know
Netherlands · home
  • Top speed at least 60 km/h
Article 42 of the RVV 1990: the motorway is open only to drivers of a motor vehicle that may and can be driven at 60 km/h or more, so exactly 60 is enough. The autoweg has the same rule at 50 km/h. That shuts out mopeds (45 km/h), light mopeds and speed pedelecs; they ride on the moped path or, where there is none, on the road.Checked 2 Sep 2026
Belgium · destination
  • Top speed at least 70 km/h
Article 21.1 of the traffic code bans mopeds (bromfietsen) from motorways by vehicle class, and separately bans any vehicle or combination that cannot reach 70 km/h on a flat road. The article states no engine size, so 70 km/h is the only threshold written. Article 2 defines a moped as at most 50 cc, 4 kW and 45 km/h by design, so every moped also fails the speed floor; a two-wheeler that can reach 70 km/h is a motorbike and may enter. Article 21.2 then sets 70 km/h as the minimum speed to ride at.Checked 2 Sep 2026 · official source

Headlights on a motorbike in daytime

Good to know
Netherlands · homeOnly in poor visibilityArticle 32 of the RVV 1990: dipped headlights at night, and by day only when visibility is seriously reduced. The same rule as for cars. Riding with the headlight on all day is advised but not required.Checked 2 Sep 2026
Belgium · destinationRequired at all timesArticle 30bis of the traffic code. Motorbikes and two-wheeled mopeds must have the dipped headlight and the red rear light on at all times, also in daylight. The main beam may not be used in daylight.Checked 2 Sep 2026 · official source

Known on one side only (10)

Whether you need an International Driving Permit

Netherlands · homeDepends on where your licence is fromAn EU or EEA licence is enough on its own. A licence from anywhere else is accepted while you are visiting, as long as its categories are the standard A, B, C, D and E. If yours uses different names for them, carry an International Driving Permit alongside it.Checked 20 Aug 2026
Belgium · destinationNot yet verified

Speed limit on a dual carriageway

Netherlands · home100 km/hThe autoweg — a main road signed with a white car on a blue rectangle, not the red-bordered motorway sign. It stays 100 all day, so in the daytime it runs at the same speed as the motorway.Checked 16 Aug 2026
Belgium · destinationNot yet verified

Speed limit in living and residential zones

Netherlands · homeNot yet verified
Belgium · destination20 km/hIn a residential area people may walk and children may play anywhere on the road. You must stop for them.Checked 16 Aug 2026 · official source

Alcohol limit for drivers who passed their test recently

Netherlands · home0.2 g/lFor the first five years of holding a licence.Checked 14 Sep 2026
Belgium · destinationNot yet verified

Priority to traffic coming from the right

Netherlands · homeYes — traffic from the right goes first at unmarked junctionsArticle 15 of the RVV 1990: at a junction you give way to drivers coming from your right. It applies wherever there are no priority signs, shark's teeth or lights — which is most residential streets.Checked 16 Aug 2026
Belgium · destinationNot yet verified

Height below which a child needs a child seat

Netherlands · homeNot yet verified
Belgium · destination135 cmThe official page gives 135 cm inside its list of exceptions rather than as a plain rule: children shorter than that may travel without a child seat in a taxi or bus, or belted in the back for a short one-off journey.Checked 16 Aug 2026 · official source

Alcohol limit for professional drivers

Netherlands · homeNot yet verified
Belgium · destination0.2 g/lChecked 16 Aug 2026 · official source

Who has priority at a roundabout

Netherlands · homeTraffic already on the roundabout goes firstNearly every Dutch roundabout has give-way triangles — shark's teeth — on the approach, so traffic already going round goes first. On the rare unsigned one the priority-to-the-right rule takes over and the reverse is true, so check the road surface as you approach.Checked 16 Aug 2026
Belgium · destinationNot yet verified

Low-emission zones

Netherlands · homeIn some citiesZones in Amsterdam, Arnhem, The Hague and Utrecht apply to DIESEL cars only, by emission class — petrol and electric cars always enter. Check a diesel's plate on the government's milieuzones.nl before driving in.Checked 6 Aug 2026
Belgium · destinationNot yet verified

Emergency number

Netherlands · home112Checked 6 Aug 2026
Belgium · destinationNot yet verified
Same in both (8)