Cars or other motor vehicles are not allowed to overtake cyclists in a bicycle street, regardless of how fast they are going. Although they have existed for many years, many road users do not fully know what is and what is not allowed. Be careful though, because the Belgian legislation differs from the Dutch and that is not always easy for residents around the border region.

You can often recognize them by the red asphalt, usually signs indicate that the car is a guest here. The municipality can decide for itself how to design a bicycle street, there are no legal rules for this. In principle, the normal priority and traffic rules also apply in the bicycle street. If there is an equivalent intersection in the bicycle street, all drivers from the right have priority.

In some cases, cars and motorcycles are allowed to drive there, but more are guests and are, as it were, tolerated. In a bicycle street, the speed is limited to 30 km/h. This applies to all traffic, including cyclists themselves. Cyclists are allowed to overtake other cyclists, as long as they stay below the speed limit. Bicycles are also allowed to overtake motorized traffic. That must be done on the left, unless there is a traffic jam, then it is also allowed on the right.

Flanders

In Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels, cyclists may therefore use the full width of the carriageway or the right half of the road in the case of a two-way street. Motor vehicles are allowed to use a bicycle street, but they are prohibited from overtaking cyclists. 

The Netherlands

In the Netherlands, the bicycle street still has no legal status. The normal rules of the Road Traffic Act also apply here. Cyclists therefore keep to the right of the bicycle street as much as possible and ride with a maximum of two people next to each other, provided they do not hinder other road users.