Speed on the autoweg (expressway)

What is an autoweg?

An autoweg (expressway) is a road for fast traffic with the blue sign showing a white car (sign G3). Only motor vehicles that are able and allowed to do at least 50 km/h may use it. At the same sign with a red line through it (sign G4) the autoweg ends.

This is how you recognise an autoweg:

• It is a priority road. The autoweg sign may only be placed where the road is a priority road. Traffic from a side road gives way to you: there are shark's teeth, sign B6 or a stop sign. Sign B6 is a triangle with a red border and its point facing down. Anyone who sees it must give way to traffic on the crossing road. On the autoweg, that is you. At traffic lights, the lights decide who may go.
• There can be junctions. Yes, on an autoweg you can meet junctions at the same level, for example with traffic lights. Oncoming traffic is possible too. There are no driveways of houses or businesses.
• The lines. Green between the white centre lines is often seen on a road where you may drive 100. But the green does not set a speed itself: the sign does. More under green line on the road.

Because of the junctions, an autoweg is less predictable than a motorway. You may not see a motorcyclist coming as quickly, for example. So look extra carefully at junctions and when overtaking.

What does the autoweg sign mean?

The autoweg sign (G3) means: from here the rules for the autoweg apply. Outside a built-up area you may then drive at most 100 km/h. Slow traffic may not use the carriageway. The rules apply until the end of autoweg sign (G4).

Is an N road an autoweg?

Not always. An N number on the hectometre sign is only the number of the road. It does not tell you whether it is an autoweg, or how fast you may drive. On an N road you may drive 80 km/h if it is an ordinary road and 100 km/h if it is an autoweg, unless a sign says otherwise.

• A + number = motorway (A4, A2).
• N + number = not a motorway (N11, N207): an autoweg or an ordinary road.

Is an 80 road an autoweg? It can be. A road where you may drive 80 is usually an ordinary road outside a built-up area. But an autoweg can also have an 80 sign. So look for the autoweg sign.

How fast may you drive on an autoweg?

Outside built-up areas the maximum speed on an autoweg is 100 km/h. That also applies when there is no green line between the white centre lines: the sign comes before the line. How markings, road type and signs work together is explained under speed limits inside and outside built-up areas.

If the autoweg runs inside a built-up area, the official maximum speed is 50 km/h, as on any other road in a built-up area. If you may go faster, a sign tells you so: inside a built-up area that can be 70 km/h.

Signs come first

• If you see a round white sign with a red border and a number, that is your maximum speed. Here it is 90 km/h.
  
• A speed on a matrix sign above your lane applies as well. The matrix sign takes precedence: if a lower speed is shown above your lane than on the sign beside the road, you keep to the matrix sign. If the sign beside the road shows a lower speed than the matrix sign, the lowest applies. A matrix sign lowers the speed for example because of a traffic jam or roadworks.
  
• With a trailer up to and including 3500 kg maximum authorised mass, never faster than 90 km/h: see maximum speed with a trailer.

Autoweg versus motorway: what is the difference?

What	Autoweg	Motorway
Sign	Blue with a white car (G3)	Blue with a viaduct (G1)
Hectometre sign	Says nothing: an N road is only an autoweg with the autoweg sign	A + number
Junctions and oncoming traffic	Possible, for example at traffic lights	No
Maximum speed	100 km/h (inside a built-up area 50, unless a sign allows more)	130 km/h; often 100 during the day, but then a sign says so
Lower limit for your vehicle	Must be able and allowed to do 50 km/h	Must be able and allowed to do 60 km/h
With a trailer	Maximum 90 km/h	Maximum 90 km/h
Turning, reversing, stopping on the carriageway	Forbidden	Forbidden

More about the motorway: speed on the motorway.

Is there a minimum speed on the autoweg?

No, there is no minimum speed on the autoweg. How fast must you drive at least on an autoweg? There is no rule for that. In a traffic jam or behind a slow vehicle you simply drive slower than 50.

There is a requirement for your vehicle: it must be able and allowed to do at least 50 km/h (RVV 1990 article 42). Able is about technology: can the vehicle reach that speed? Allowed is about the law: a microcar (brommobiel) is built for at most 45 km/h and may not go faster either. So it cannot and may not do 50, and may not use the autoweg.

Which vehicles may not use an autoweg?

Anything that is not a motor vehicle, and every motor vehicle that cannot or may not do 50 km/h:

• Cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders: they are not motor vehicles.
• Mopeds and light mopeds: they may not go faster than 45 and 25 km/h.
• Microcars (brommobielen): may a microcar use the autoweg? No. A microcar is built so that it cannot go faster than 45 km/h, and it is not allowed to go faster than 45 km/h either. On the autoweg your vehicle must be able and allowed to do at least 50 km/h. A microcar does not reach that limit.
• Agricultural vehicles, such as a tractor, and other slow vehicles: at most 25 or 40 km/h. May a tractor use an autoweg? No, not on the carriageway.

They may cross the autoweg at a place made for it, such as a junction with traffic lights. So you can meet them there. More about these vehicles under moped, e-bike and motorcycle.

May you make a U-turn on an autoweg?

No, you may not turn around on an autoweg. Reversing and stopping on the carriageway are not allowed either, so parking is not allowed. Use a hard shoulder, lay-by or verge only after a breakdown or in an emergency.

There may be oncoming traffic and junctions. So only drive 100 km/h when visibility, the road and the traffic allow it.

CBR traps for the autoweg

❌ Wrong: choosing 130 km/h because the road looks fast.
✅ Right: look at the sign first. A white car on a blue sign = autoweg = 100 km/h outside a built-up area.

❌ Wrong: "It says N34, so it is an autoweg, so 100."
✅ Right: an N number does not mean it is an autoweg. Look for the autoweg sign.

❌ Wrong: thinking you must drive at least 50 km/h on an autoweg.
✅ Right: that 50 km/h is about what your vehicle must be able and allowed to do. In a traffic jam you simply drive slower.

❌ Wrong: driving 100 km/h on an autoweg inside a built-up area.
✅ Right: inside a built-up area 50 km/h applies, unless a sign allows more.

❌ Wrong: keeping to the speed of the fixed sign when the matrix sign is lower.
✅ Right: if the matrix sign is lower, you drive the speed on the matrix sign.

❌ Wrong: expecting a tractor or microcar on the carriageway of the autoweg.
✅ Right: they may not drive there. At most you will see them crossing at a junction.