Netherlands: Wegenverkeerswet

An introduction on bicycle lighting can be found on Wikipedia: Bicycle lighting (Dutch). See also Wikipedia: RVV 1990 (Dutch) (for the general rule about unsafe behaviour, under which of course using a lamp with symmetric beam on public roads falls, as that blinds oncoming traffic). Links to the actual rules:

The Dutch rules

• Brief overview (Dutch) [ local copy (2013-12-9) ]
• Law: Regulations for vehicles, paragraph 5.9.3 up to and including 5.9.71 (Dutch) (press the symbol for printing to show the text, you don't actually need to print) [ local copy (2011-12-6), and a bit more information with date from when the rules were in effect: rules with dates, local copy (2011-12-6) ]

The rules say for bicycles:

Rules for lighting that is mounted on the bicycle (note that this is not compulsory, you can choose to use loose lights, see further on):

• The lamps must shine white or yellow light on the front, red light at the rear
• The lamps must shine straight ahead and straight to the rear
• The lamps are not allowed to blink

Rules for lighting that is NOT mounted on the bicycle ('loose'):

• Loose lamps must shine white or yellow light on the front, red light at the rear
• Loose lamps are only allowed to be placed on the body, not on arms or legs [ I suppose otherwise it could cause distracting motion... See further on for explicit mention of motion which confirms this ]
• Loose lamps may be fixed to clothing or a bag
• Loose lamps must be well visible, nothing may hang in front of them/over them
• Loose lamps must shine straight ahead and straight to the rear and are not allowed to blink, and may not move too much

Rules for reflection. A bicycle must have:

• A red reflector (not triangular in shape) on the rear of the bicycle
• Yellow reflectors on the pedals
• White reflectors on the wheels/rims or tyres

Comments on the rules

In the Netherlands, there has been a near complete abolishment of regulations of bicycle lamps. I thought it happened at the last revision in 2009, but no, I found much older regulations and those were already minimalistic with no beam patterns or lux requirements etc., which is somewhat strange as it means there's no well defined method to say a lamp hinders other traffic. From the general rules of course, a lamp may not blind other traffic, which means strong lamps with symmetric beam such as the 'Magicshine' are definitely not allowed on public roads as there's no question that it is a dangerously blinding lamp (as I know from testing it), just like using the high beam on a car is not allowed except for exceptions (when there is no oncoming traffic). So if someone tries to say "it's just a little bit blinding" to get away with using it, he should not succeed. Then again, with strict rules there's never any problem with 'should', either it's allowed or it isn't. And then there is this: will policemen enforce and notice the issues or are they busy with other matters?

More comments on the rules to follow.

Last modified: 2017-11-9