Speed limits in the Netherlands

The default speed limits in the Netherlands are 50 km/h (31 mph) inside built-up areas, 80 km/h (50 mph) outside built-up areas, 100 km/h (62 mph) on expressways (autowegen), and, as of 16 March 2020, 100 km/h from 6:00 to 19:00 and 130 km/h from 19:00 to 6:00 on motorways (autosnelwegen).[1][2]

Border crossing sign indicating which speed limits apply in the Netherlands

Additionally, lower speed limits may apply in speed zones. Motorways passing through urban areas are usually limited to 100 km/h and narrow regional roads may have 60 km/h (37 mph) speed limits.

In urban residential areas, 30 km/h (19 mph) zones are found, as well as home zones (woonerven), in which vehicles must adhere to a walking pace (15 km/h (9 mph) is tolerated).[3] Contrarily, some four-lane urban arterial roads have a posted 70 km/h (44 mph) speed limit.

Unlike neighbouring countries such as Belgium, there is no minimum speed on Dutch motorways. However, only motorized vehicles capable of driving at least 50 km/h and 60 km/h are allowed to enter Dutch expressways and motorways, respectively.[4]

History

The Netherlands did not have specific night speed limits until 2020. Nevertheless, many motorways have a posted speed limit of 120 km/h (75 mph) between 19:00 and 6:00, which automatically allows a higher speed on night times with a lower traffic density.

Starting in May 2002, 80 km/h zones have been introduced on some motorways that had daily traffic congestion and air pollution issues; however, most of these zones have been or will be abolished, with the exception of short stretches of the A20 ring road near Rotterdam and the A10 ring road near Amsterdam. On 1 September 2012, the motorway default speed limit was raised from 120 km/h (75 mph) to 130 km/h (81 mph),[5] but it applies to only 48% of all motorways[6] with the intent of 60% of motorways.[7]

The State of the Netherlands v. Urgenda Foundation court case was decided in favour of its plaintiff Urgenda (initially in June 2015, upheld on appeal in October 2018, and finally confirmed by the Supreme Court of the Netherlands on 20 December 2019), who successfully forced the government to implement the necessary measures to reduce the Netherlands' CO2 emissions from 1990 levels by 25% by 2020. Although the government was free to choose which measures it would take to achieve this reduction, the plaintiff and other environmentalists suggested lowering the speed limit as one of several effective options to do so.[8][9] Meanwhile, the 2019 Dutch nitrogen emissions crisis, which indirectly caused the 2019–2020 Dutch farmers' protests, convinced the government on 13 November 2019 to lower the speed limits in the Netherlands on national roads to 100 kilometres per hour during the day, from 6 am (6:00) to 7 pm (19:00). Only during nighttime the former limit of 130 km/h (81 mph) remained.[10][11]

Truck and trailer speed limits

In the Netherlands, heavy trucks and vehicles and trailer combinations with a total weight over 3.5 metric tons (7,700 lb) and busses have an overall speed limit of 80 km/h (50 mph) on expressways and motorways. On roads or lanes with a (general or posted) speed limit under 80 km/h, these vehicles must abide by this lower limit. Trucks and vehicles above 3.5 tons are required to have a speed limiting device to prevent them from speeding above 90 km/h (56 mph).

Cars and trucks pulling a trailer with a total (car+trailer) weight under 3.5 tons have an overall speed limit of 90 km/h (56 mph), and coaches equipped with seat belts, categorized as T100, have an overall speed limit of 100 km/h (62 mph). This following the same regulation as standing above. Light commercial vehicles under 3.5 tons don't have special speed limits.

Speed limit enforcement

Dutch rally driver, Maus Gatsonides, is famed for inventing the Gatso speed camera and founding the Gatsometer BV company (which is now Sensys Gatso).[12] The Netherlands was the first country to use the speed cameras with trials of the technology starting in the late 1950s.[13]

Speed limit enforcement is extensive on Dutch roads, including traffic enforcement cameras in urban areas and radar guns on national roads and motorways. Furthermore, fixed average speed checks (trajectcontrole), which were first introduced in the Netherlands, are now in operation on many motorways in the densely populated Randstad region.[14] In case of speeding, there is a legal speed correction of 3 km/h (3% if over 100 km/h) plus a fixed 3 km/h tolerance margin for posted speed limits up to 120 km/h (i.e. you will be fined from 4 km/h over).[15] For example, when caught at 108 km/h on a national road, one will be fined for exceeding the speed limit by 3.24 km/h. When driving at 107 km/h, no speeding ticket will be issued.

See also

References
  1. "Niederlande: Ab März auf Autobahnen Tempo 100 | ADAC". www.adac.de (in German). Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  2. "Wat is de maximumsnelheid voor het wegverkeer? (What are the maximum speeds for road traffic?)" (in Dutch). Rijksoverheid.nl. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  3. "Woonerf krijgt 15 kilometer per uurbord (Home zone will display 15 km/h speed sign)" (in Dutch). Rijksoverheid.nl. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  4. "Wat is de minimumsnelheid voor het wegverkeer? (What is the minimum speed for road traffic?)" (in Dutch). Rijksoverheid.nl. 31 January 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  5. "Speed limit increase". Houseofrepresentatives.nl. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  6. "Verhogen maximumsnelheid (Maximum speed increase)" (in Dutch). Rijksoverheid.nl. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  7. "Speed limit goes up to 130 KPH on more roads". 27 June 2013.
  8. SPIEGEL, Claus Hecking, DER (20 December 2019). "Niederlande: Klimaaktivisten siegen gegen eigene Regierung - DER SPIEGEL - Wissenschaft". Der Spiegel (in German). Retrieved 26 January 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. "Klimaklage in den Niederlande - Ein historisches Urteil". Deutschlandfunk (in German). Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  10. Bastiaan Nagtegaal (13 November 2019). "Stikstofaanpak: landbouwinnovatie, noodwet voor de bouw en 'rotmaatregel' snelheid". NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  11. Frommeyer, Lena (14 November 2019). "Tempolimit in den Niederlanden: Bremsen für den Fortschritt" [Speed limit in the Netherlands: braking for progress]. Der Spiegel (in German). Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  12. "Our heritage | Sensys Gatso". www.sensysgatso.com. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  13. "Explainer: The Gatso speed camera". Slate Magazine. 18 January 2002. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  14. "Trajectcontrole (Fixed average speed check)" (in Dutch). OM.nl. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  15. "Wordt de gemeten snelheid gecorrigeerd bij trajectcontrolesystemen?" (in Dutch). OM.nl. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
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