Speed limit signs

Which sign does what?

Sign	Shape and colour	Meaning	Mandatory?
Maximum speed (A1)	Round, white with a red border	The highest speed allowed	Yes
End of maximum speed (A2)	Round, white, grey numbers with black diagonal stripes	The restriction ends; then the normal speed of the road applies	Yes
Recommended speed (A4)	Square, blue with white numbers	Recommended speed, often before a bend	No — square = friendly
End of recommended speed (A5)	Square, blue with a red diagonal line	The recommendation ends	—
Speed on a matrix sign (A3)	Electronic, above the lane	Maximum speed for that lane; if it is lower than the fixed sign, the matrix sign takes precedence; if the fixed sign is lower, the lowest applies	Yes, while it is lit
End symbol on a matrix sign (F9)	Electronic, a grey circle with a diagonal line	End of that speed limit	—
Sub-sign	White and rectangular, below the sign	When or where the sign above applies	The sign then applies only that way
Warning sign	Triangle, white with a red border	Warns of a danger	No speed restriction

Maximum speed signs

A maximum speed sign is a round white sign with a red border and a number. You may not drive faster than that number there. The sign applies until a next sign says something else. It is not a target speed: adjust your speed to visibility, the road and the traffic.

• Maximum speed (A1): you may not go faster than the number on the sign.
• End of maximum speed (A2): a white sign with grey numbers and black lines through it. The restriction stops. After it the normal speed of the road applies, for example 80 km/h outside a built-up area. See speed limits inside and outside built-up areas.

Does the sign say "zone", as with a 30 zone? Then the speed applies in the whole area, until the end of zone sign.

Speed signs at roadworks

At roadworks there is often a temporary speed sign. The speed is on that sign. It is not always 90 km/h. The sign applies as long as it is there, also when nobody is working at that moment. The fixed speed signs have usually been removed or covered for a while.

If you speed at roadworks, the fine is higher than for the same offence elsewhere.

Recommended speed sign: square = friendly

A recommended speed sign is a square blue sign with white numbers (sign A4). You see it mainly before sharp bends.

Is a recommended speed mandatory? No. Square = friendly: it is advice. Do follow it, because it is there for a reason. If you take the bend faster anyway, you can come off the road. The advice ends at the end of recommended speed sign (A5): the same blue square with a red diagonal line.

Matrix signs

On the motorway, electronic signal signs hang above the lanes: matrix signs. If a number is lit above your lane (sign A3), that is a mandatory maximum speed for that lane, not a recommendation.

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, even though the fixed sign is higher. If the sign beside the road shows a lower speed than the matrix sign, the lowest applies. It is switched on for example at roadworks or when there is a traffic jam further on, so that you can reduce speed in time.

What else a matrix sign can show, such as a red cross or a diagonal arrow, is explained under matrix signs.

End of a matrix indication

The end of a speed on the matrix sign is shown by a grey circle with a diagonal line (sign F9): end of that speed limit. You follow the fixed signs again, or the normal speed of the road if there is no sign.

Other electronic speed signs

An electronic or digital speed sign with a red border means the same as an ordinary sign. A traffic sign may be shown on an electronic sign. Such variable speed signs can show a different speed, for example in busy traffic or bad weather. The number that is lit is your speed limit.

A speed display is something else. It only shows how fast you are driving, sometimes with a smiling or angry face. It does not set a speed limit itself. How fast you may go, you read from the traffic signs.

Sub-signs: times and conditions

Does a speed sign only apply at certain times or in certain situations? Then that is always shown on a white sub-sign below it. No sub-sign means: the sign always applies. Read the sign from top to bottom: the speed at the top, when it applies below.

Times, such as 6-19h under a 100 sign: the sign only applies between those times. What you may drive outside those times on the motorway is under speed on the motorway.

Conditions, such as "when wet" (bij nat wegdek): the sign only applies when the road is wet. More about rain and slippery roads under weather conditions on the motorway.

A distance or length: if there are arrows next to the number, the sign applies from the sign onwards, over that length. Without arrows it only starts after that distance. More under sub-signs.

Warning signs do NOT set a speed limit

A triangular sign with a red border only warns you of danger, such as a bad road surface, a speed bump or a traffic jam. The speed limit stays what the road and the speed signs say. What you do at such a sign is under warning signs.

CBR traps around speed limit signs

❌ Wrong: treating a square blue speed sign as a mandatory speed limit.
✅ Right: square blue = advice. Round with a red border = mandatory.

❌ Wrong: ignoring a lower speed on the matrix sign because the fixed sign is higher.
✅ Right: if a lower speed is lit above your lane, you drive that speed.

❌ Wrong: thinking a warning sign sets a speed limit itself.
✅ Right: a warning sign only warns. The speed limit does not change.

❌ Wrong: imagining a time or weather condition that is not shown.
✅ Right: such a restriction is always on a white sub-sign. No sub-sign: the sign always applies.

❌ Wrong: thinking there is no limit after the end of maximum speed sign.
✅ Right: then the normal speed of the road applies, 80 km/h outside a built-up area.

❌ Wrong: ignoring a speed sign at roadworks because nobody is working.
✅ Right: the sign applies as long as it is there.