Trailers & Bicycle carriers

A bicycle carrier is a load/carrier on the car, not a trailer. Carrier and bikes may extend at most 20 cm beyond either side; observe overall width and a maximum total height of 4 m from the ground. Check capacity, nose weight or roof load and attachment. If the plate is obscured, use an official white duplicate. If rear lamps or reflectors are obscured, provide the required visible lights/reflectors on the carrier. Follow the manual and any lower carrier speed limit.

For a car towing a trailer up to 3,500 kg MAM, the expressway and motorway limit is at most 90 km/h unless a lower limit applies. Ordinary roads are normally 80 outside and 50 inside built-up areas, subject to local restrictions. Heavier trailers may have a lower vehicle-specific limit. Combinations longer than 7 m use the two rightmost motorway lanes except for necessary positioning.

Use the safety system appropriate to the trailer. A trailer up to 1,500 kg MAM without a breakaway brake needs a sound auxiliary coupling: a retaining connection that keeps it attached after detachment of the main coupling. A breakaway brake is activated by its cable instead. A trailer with a breakaway braking system must not also have an auxiliary coupling; you cannot freely replace a required brake.

Up to 750 kg MAM, the trailer uses an official white duplicate bearing the towing car’s characters, without a blue EU/NL panel. Above 750 kg MAM it has its own yellow registration. The threshold uses authorised mass, not today’s actual weight; travelling empty does not change the plate. Display the correct trailer plate, not white and yellow together.

With B, a trailer up to 750 kg maximum authorised mass (MAM) may be towed behind a B-category car; combined MAM can then exceed 3,500 kg, up to 4,250 kg. Above 750 kg trailer MAM, ordinary B permits combined MAM up to 3,500 kg. Use registered limits rather than only today’s actual weight. Separately check towing capacity, axle loads, nose weight and other technical limits.