Belgian highway code: the complete 2026 guide
Home › Belgian highway code: the complete 2026 guide
Everything you need to know about the Belgian highway code to pass the category B theory test: the main exam topics, the essential rules, and where to practise for free.
The main topics of the code
Road signs
Danger, prohibition, obligation, indication: learn every Belgian sign and its exact meaning.
Priorities & traffic rules
Priority to the right, roundabouts, lights, give way: the situations that win or lose points.
Speed & safety
Speed limits in and out of town and on the motorway, safety distances and first aid.
What "the Belgian Highway Code" actually is
It is a federal body of rules - the same in Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels - governing how road users behave: priority, speed, overtaking, stopping and parking, signage, and the obligations of drivers, riders, cyclists and pedestrians.
What is not federal is driver training. Since 2014 the regions organise licensing themselves, which is why provisional licence rules and even default speed limits outside built-up areas differ between them. The rules of the road are national; the path to being allowed to use them is regional. Confusing the two is the source of most contradictory advice you will read online.
The five rules that surprise foreign drivers
If you have driven for years elsewhere, the exam will not test your driving. It will test the handful of Belgian specifics that no amount of experience abroad prepares you for.
- Priority to the right. Applied far more broadly than in most countries. Unless a sign says otherwise, the vehicle coming from your right goes first - including one emerging from a road that looks smaller than yours.
- Stopping is not parking. Belgian law separates the two, with different rules and different signs. One diagonal stroke forbids parking; two crossed strokes forbid both.
- Default speeds differ by region outside built-up areas. Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels are not aligned, so habit is a poor guide - read the sign.
- Blue circles are obligations, not permissions. A blue circle with a bicycle does not permit cyclists; it requires them to use that lane.
- Trams have their own priority rules, and cycle infrastructure carries obligations that have no equivalent in many licensing systems.
How the signage is organised
Belgian signs are classified by letter, and the letter is readable from the shape and colour before you look at the pictogram at all. That single grid answers a large share of exam questions on its own.
| Series | Function | Shape and colour |
|---|---|---|
| A | Warning | Triangle with a red border |
| B | Priority | Distinct shapes: inverted triangle, octagon, diamond |
| C | Prohibition | Circle with a red border |
| D | Mandatory | Solid blue circle |
| E | Stopping and parking | Blue circle or square with a red border |
| F | Information | Blue square or rectangle |
Some information signs change the speed limit without showing a number: the built-up area sign means 50, a 30 zone covers a whole area up to its end sign, and a residential zone means 20 with pedestrians having priority across the full width.
Learning it without reading a legal text
The Highway Code exists as a formal decree, and reading it front to back is a poor way to learn it - it is written to be unambiguous in court, not to be understood by someone starting out. Almost everyone who tries abandons it within a few chapters.
What works is the reverse order: learn each rule through the situation it governs, then check the wording. Signs first, because they are pure recognition and account for roughly a third of the exam. Priority second, because it causes the most failures. Speed, stopping and parking next. Motorway, manoeuvres and the administrative chapters last - they are short and learn quickly.
The Highway Code at a glance
- 6 — series of road signs
- 50 — exam questions
- 41/50 — to pass
- 1968 — the founding royal decree
Frequently asked questions
Did the Belgian highway code change in 2026?
The basic rules stay stable, but signage evolves. Our lessons and questions are kept up to date with the current code.
Where to find the highway code for free?
You can learn for free on PermisBelges.be: theory courses, the full sign gallery and first tests are free.
Is the Belgian Highway Code the same across the whole country?
Yes. The Highway Code is federal and identical in Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels. What differs by region is driver training and licensing, including some provisional licence rules and default speed limits outside built-up areas.
Where can I read the Belgian Highway Code in English?
There is no official English version with legal force - the code is published in French, Dutch and German. English explanations, including the ones on this site, are there to make the rules understandable, and the official texts remain the legal reference.
How much of the theory exam is about road signs?
Typically twelve to sixteen questions out of fifty, so roughly a third of the marks. It is the most efficient chapter to learn first because it is recognition rather than reasoning.
Do I need to know the Highway Code if I already drive?
For the exam, yes. Experience elsewhere does not cover the Belgian specifics - priority to the right, the legal split between stopping and parking, regional speed defaults, and the meaning of blue circles.