Core: APK duty and the real inspection cycle

The general inspection duty is in the book (p.206): passenger cars, vans, trucks and buses must be inspected regularly — the APK. Six weeks before the expiry date the RDW sends a reminder letter. On approval you get an inspection certificate, but you do not need to show it on the road: the police check a system. Both the owner/holder and the driver are liable if driven without a valid APK — even if the car is technically not in order. The interval figures themselves are not in the book. Per the RDW: petrol/electric gets its first inspection after 4 years, then every 2 years (at 6 and 8 years), and only from 8 years old does it become annual. Diesel/gas gets its first inspection already after 3 years and then goes straight to annual — with no two-yearly interim phase. So the two schedules differ on two points at once: the starting year (4 versus 3) AND the length of the interim phase (two interim steps versus none).