Dutch priority rules explained: right first, trams, roundabouts

First: what overrules what?

Priority questions get much easier once you know which rule has the final say. The Dutch traffic code (RVV 1990) sets a fixed order. In every situation, look first for the highest rule that applies.

1. Instructions from a traffic controller or police officer overrule everything (art. 84).
2. Traffic lights overrule priority signs and shark’s teeth (art. 64).
3. Traffic signs and shark’s teeth overrule the general traffic rules (art. 63 and 84).
4. With no instructions, lights or signs, the general rules apply, such as traffic from the right goes first.

Traffic from the right goes first, including cyclists

At an equal junction you give way to drivers coming from the right (art. 15 para. 1). A cyclist or moped rider also counts as a driver, so a cyclist from the right goes before you. The same article has two exceptions: traffic coming off an unpaved road gives way to traffic on the paved road, and everyone gives way to trams.

Trams go first, even from the left

At a junction without signs or lights, a tram always has priority, even when it comes from the left (art. 15 para. 2). A tram can’t swerve and brakes poorly. The turning rules in art. 18 don’t apply to tram drivers, so a turning tram doesn’t have to wait for traffic going straight on.

Turning: straight on goes first

When you turn, oncoming traffic going straight on along the same road goes first. So does traffic beside you or just behind you, such as a cyclist on your right when you turn right (art. 18 para. 1). If two oncoming drivers both turn at the same junction, the one turning left lets the one turning right go first (art. 18 para. 2).

Roundabouts: usually priority for traffic already on them

No article of the traffic code deals with priority on roundabouts. Without signs, traffic from the right goes first, which gives traffic entering the roundabout priority. In practice, though, there is almost always a give-way sign and shark’s teeth at the entry. Then you give way to traffic already on the roundabout. Signal when you leave the roundabout, because you are turning.

Priority or letting someone go first?

Dutch has two different terms, and the exam uses them precisely: the topic is even called "Voorrang en voor laten gaan". Voorrang verlenen (giving priority) is about drivers at a junction. Voor laten gaan (letting someone go first) covers everything else: pedestrians, turning, and special manoeuvres such as pulling out of a parking space or a driveway.

Pedestrians and zebra crossings

Pedestrians aren’t drivers, so they don’t have priority as such, but you still let them go first. Let pedestrians go first when they cross at a zebra crossing or are clearly about to (art. 49 para. 2). Always let blind people with a white cane, and anyone who moves with difficulty, go first (art. 49 para. 1).

How the CBR exam tests priority

Priority comes up in several forms. In a drag question you put three road users in order: who goes first, who second and who last. In an animation clip you watch a junction in motion and answer a question like "Who goes first?". In one of the CBR’s official example questions, a tram, a cyclist, a motorbike and a car arrive at a junction together, and the cyclist is the right answer. Memorised patterns fail here; understanding the order of rules doesn’t.