Driving in Belgium

Belgium in Brief - History of Belgium - Attractions in Belgium

In exception to the priority-on-your right rule, trams always have priority.

Headlights must be on between dusk and dawn and during inclement weather. Motorcycles must be operated with headlights on night and day. The horn should only be used outside built-up areas.

Police are empowered to impose and collect fines on the spot. Fines range from €18 to €140. You must place a security deposit if you refuse to pay. Police may request that you take a blood alcohol test; although you can by law refuse, you might as a result be arrested.

Parking in Belgium
Blue Zone parking areas indicated by signs placed at their periphery exist in Antwerp, Bruges, Brussels, Gent, Liège, and Öostende. However, where metres or the like are in place in the zones, discs are not required or sufficient. You can obtain a parking disc from police or service stations, some merchants, or offices of the RACB motoring club. Outside these zones a parking disc must be used where the parking sign includes an extra panel bearing the image of a disc or where the words "Disque Obligatoire" or "Schijf Verplicht" indicate the beginning of a Blue Zone. Don't park within 15 metres of a tram, bus or rail stop or near where tram or rail lines cross the road. Some parking garages are not manned on weekends and holidays; operate the barrier automatically with the proper coins. Wheel clamps are used in Antwerp and Gent.

Tolls on Belgium Roads
There is a toll for the use of Antwerp's Liefkenshoek Tunnel.

Road Signs in Belgium
Note that there are two languages generally spoken in Belgium: Dutch (Flemish) in the northern half, and French in Brussels and in the southern half. Antwerpen (Dutch) is Anvers (French); Brugge is Bruges; Bruxelles is Brussel; Gent is Gand; Luik is Liège; Leuven is Louvain; Namen is Namur; Bergen is Mons; and Doornik is Tournai. The words "Passage Difficile" and "Moeilijke Doorgang" indicate a difficult section. The word station in Dutch/Flemish indicates a train station; while the word in French is gare. International expressways are signified by green signs with white characters preceded by the letter E; national highways are noted by blue signs with white letters preceded by the letter A. As part of a new naming convention, lesser highways may have two road numbers both the old and the new preceded by an N.