Special vehicles – military convoys and funeral processions

Military convoy: A number of military motor vehicles behind each other, or motor vehicles of the disaster relief organisation.
Funeral procession of motor vehicles: A procession, consisting of motor vehicles, that brings a deceased person to a cemetery or crematorium.

Military convoys

To ensure that vehicles in military convoys can stay together as much as possible, they have special rights:

Road users are not allowed to cut through a military convoy.
This means that once the first vehicle in the convoy has started to cross or turn, the rest of the convoy may follow and other road users may not walk or drive between them. This applies even if they have right of way or are permitted to proceed according to the traffic rules. Do note: the first vehicle must still follow the rules of right of way!
All vehicles of a military convoy do not have to give way to pedestrians wanting to cross at a pedestrian crossing.
The first vehicle may also proceed at a pedestrian crossing, even if pedestrians are waiting to cross.
All vehicles of a military convoy do not have to give way to a bus indicating to leave a bus stop inside the built-up area.
The first vehicle may also continue driving if a bus within a built-up area indicates that it wishes to leave a bus stop.
Following vehicles of a military convoy may also drive through a yellow or red light. But only if the first vehicle has entered the intersection at a green light. If the first vehicle in the military convoy has entered an intersection when the traffic light was green, all following vehicles may continue. This applies even if they have to drive through a yellow or even red light. If other road users have a green light, they must wait.
Do note: the first vehicle in the convoy must obey the traffic lights!

afslaan militaire colonne — In this case, the vehicles of the military convoy may go first. They have already started to turn off.

verkeerslichten militaire colonne — Despite the fact that the moped rider now has the green light, they are not allowed to cut through the military convoy if the first vehicle has entered the intersection when the light was green.

The driver of the first vehicle of the military convoy must keep to the normal priority rules and traffic lights. The special rules regarding cutting through and driving on at red traffic lights only apply to the following vehicles. This is meant to make sure that the group stays together as much as possible.

To know whether you are dealing with the first vehicle, one of the middle vehicles or the last vehicle of a military convoy, they have to following identification marks:

First vehicle
One blue flag on the left.
Middle vehicles
Usually no flag, sometimes one blue flag on the left.
Last vehicle
One green flag on the left.

Funeral procession of motor vehicles

Funeral procession of motor vehicles: A procession consisting of motor vehicles accompanying a deceased person to a cemetery or crematorium. Vehicles in a funeral procession can be recognised by one or two black flags with three horizontal stripes.

Funeral processions require a degree of respect for the deceased. Here too, it is preferable for the following vehicles to remain as close as possible to the lead vehicle. For this reason, they have almost the same rights as a military convoy:

They are not allowed to be cut through.
The first vehicle must keep to the normal priority rules and traffic lights.
They do not have to give way to pedestrians at pedestrian crossings.
In that case, the first vehicle may also continue driving.
They do not have to give way to buses indicating they want to leave a bus stop within the built-up area.
In that case, the first vehicle may also continue driving.

However, there is one difference compared to the military convoy: the following vehicles of a funeral procession must always stop at a yellow or red light, even if the first vehicle has already entered the intersection when the light was green.

uitvaartstoet afslaan — The driver of the brommobiel must give way to the funeral procession because it has already started turning off.

uitvaartstoet verkeerslicht 1 — The moped rider is allowed to ride on because the drivers of the following vehicles must wait for the red light.

Always be respectful towards funeral processions. In a lot of situations, it is required to give way to the following cars. In addition, keep in mind that the drivers of the following vehicles often have their thoughts with the deceased and therefore pay less attention to traffic.

Stop in time, give them space and patiently wait until they have passed.

Merging and overtaking

If you are unable to get in front of or behind the entire military convoy or funeral procession when merging or overtaking, you may drive between these vehicles. However, as a moped rider, you will generally not encounter this situation because your speed is lower and you rarely have to deal with merging lanes.

If you do find yourself between a convoy or funeral procession, remember that you are not part of the convoy or procession. You must therefore obey all normal traffic rules. This may cause inconvenience to the military convoy or funeral procession. Although it is permitted, you should try to avoid this as much as possible.

Cutting through

Make sure that you understand what does and does not fall under cutting through. Also always keep a close watch on what a military convoy or funeral procession does. This prevents you from unnecessarily waiting for each other, from you entering a dangerous situation.

What does fall under cutting through?

When you intersect a military convoy or funeral procession while they are actively crossing or turning off at an equivalent intersection.
When you intersect a military convoy or funeral procession while they are actively turning off of the road you are also driving on.
When you intersect a military convoy or funeral procession while they are entering an entrance construction or exiting an exit construction.
Do note! If an intersection is regulated by traffic lights and you intersect a military convoy while you have a green light, it also falls under cutting through. The entire military convoy may continue driving when the first vehicle has started driving when the light was green. This does not apply to funeral processions.

What does not fall under cutting through?

If you are riding on a priority road and the military convoy or funeral procession crosses this road. Traffic signs (priority signs and priority triangles) supersede traffic rules (cutting through). In that case, you may go first.

Merging in between vehicles of a military convoy after an overtaking manoeuvre. This is allowed, but you do not become part of the military convoy. Normal traffic rules still apply to you. This situation is not likely to occur for a moped rider.