Road types
Roads come in all shapes and sizes. They are designed with a specific purpose. There is a distinction between three different types:
- access roads;
- distributor roads;
- flow roads.
Access roads
These areas are mainly residential. Here, speeds are low, roads are narrower and there are more speed bumps and obstacles. You will also encounter more weaker road users like cyclists and pedestrians. You must adjust your speed to this. There are often no cycle paths on these roads, but all drivers use the carriageway. Most intersections are equivalent.
Examples of access roads are an erf and a 30km zone. However, 60km zones also fall under access roads, because they aim to ensure that farms and entrances to meadows and fields can be easily reached. You also encounter a lot of slow traffic on these roads, such as tractors.
Erf
30km zone
60km zone
Distributor roads
These roads connect residential areas (with access roads) and flow roads. Distributor roads are wider, and the speed limits are a little higher. Think of roads within the built-up areas where you can drive 50 km/h and sometimes even 70 km/h and where houses are not directly located. These roads form the connection between different neighbourhoods within a city.
80 km/h roads outside the built-up area also fall under the distributor roads. They connect different villages and small towns.
Most distributor roads have separate cycle paths and cycle/moped paths. You also encounter less agricultural traffic. Most intersections are level but not equivalent. Priority is regulated by means of signs and markings or traffic lights.
Most fatal accidents happen on distributor roads, with the most occuring on the municipal 50km roads. This is mainly due to accidents between motor vehicles and cyclists, moped riders and pedestrians. But many fatal accidents also occur on 80km roads, including head-on collisions during overtaking manoeuvres.
50km road
80km road
Flow roads
The aim of these roads is the quick transport of vehicles over larger distances. They connect larger cities. Think of autowegen and motorways. You are not allowed to use flow roads as your vehicle is not able and allowed to ride the minimum speed of 50 km/h. Sometimes you do need to cross a flow road. These are usually single lane autowegen in rural areas. In that case, consider the high speed on the flow road.