The trap
Many learners think: Even inside a built-up area you are required to switch on your sidelights (or parking lights) if you stop somewhere dangerous at night.
The rule is: Inside a built-up area, sidelights when stopped somewhere dangerous or a nuisance are 'advisable, but not required.' The hard requirement only applies outside the built-up area and on a lay-by/hard shoulder along an expressway or motorway
Challenge
Some driving-lesson sources claim that inside a built-up area a stationary vehicle may stand without lights, provided the street is well enough lit. That exact claim does not appear on this page of the book. What it does say is sharper: outside the built-up area sidelights are a hard duty; inside the built-up area it is advisable, not a duty — two very different statuses, not one street-lighting exception.
Read this section on its own page: Challenge: Lighting when stopped
The model
Outside the built-up area, or in a lay-by/on the hard shoulder along an expressway or motorway: sidelights (and rear light) mandatory at night or during the day with poor visibility (Book p.186). Inside the built-up area: advisable, not required, even at a dangerous or obstructive spot. The duty also applies to a trailer or caravan, attached or unhitched.
Read this section on its own page: The model: Lighting when stopped
Core
You must keep your sidelights (and rear light) on if, at night or during the day with poor visibility, you are stopped on the carriageway outside a built-up area (Book p.186). The same duty applies if you are stopped in a lay-by, parking strip, or on the hard shoulder along an expressway or motorway. This requirement also applies to any trailer or caravan — it does not matter whether it is attached to your car or unhitched. A standalone caravan on the hard shoulder therefore carries the same lighting duty as one still attached to the car. Note: with only your sidelights (and rear light) on, you may not drive. Sidelights are for standing still, not for driving; for driving you need dipped beam or full beam. Inside a built-up area it is different: there it can be advisable to switch on your sidelights if you are stopped at a dangerous or obstructive spot, but it is not required. As an alternative to sidelights and rear light you may also use your parking lights.
Read this section on its own page: Core: Lighting when stopped
Why it matters
An unlit car with a breakdown on the hard shoulder along the A28 near Dwingeloo is almost invisible at night to oncoming traffic doing 100 km/h — the sidelight duty exists precisely to reduce that collision risk. Inside the built-up area the risk is smaller (lower speed, more street lighting), hence the difference in status — not because the rule suddenly disappears, but because the book deliberately makes it 'advisable' rather than 'required' there.
Read this section on its own page: Why it matters: Lighting when stopped
Active recall
You are stopped at night in the centre of Giethoorn, in a narrow, somewhat obstructive spot along the water. What applies here to your sidelights?
Read this section on its own page: Active recall: Lighting when stopped
Teach back
Explain: when is sidelighting when stopped mandatory, when is it only advisable, and why may you not drive with it?
Read this section on its own page: Teach back: Lighting when stopped
Memory hook
Outside the built-up area/hard shoulder: mandatory. Inside the built-up area: advisable. Never drive with only sidelights.
Read this section on its own page: Memory hook: Lighting when stopped
Source: RVV 1990 art. 32 · RVV 1990 art. 35 · checked 2026-10-22
Test yourself
It is night. You are stopped with your car on the carriageway just outside Schoonebeek, outside the built-up area, with a breakdown. Must you keep your sidelights on?
Show the answer
Outside the built-up area, or in a lay-by/on the hard shoulder along an expressway or motorway: sidelights (and rear light) mandatory at night or during the day with poor visibility (Book p.186). Inside the built-up area: advisable, not required, even at a dangerous or obstructive spot. The duty also applies to a trailer or caravan, attached or unhitched.
Frequently asked questions
‘Even inside a built-up area you are required to switch on your sidelights (or parking lights) if you stop somewhere dangerous at night’ – is that true?
No. Inside a built-up area, sidelights when stopped somewhere dangerous or a nuisance are 'advisable, but not required.' The hard requirement only applies outside the built-up area and on a lay-by/hard shoulder along an expressway or motorway
‘If your sidelights are enough to stand still, they're also enough to drive away with, as long as you take it easy’ – is that true?
No. The text explicitly warns: with only your sidelights (and rear light) on, you may not drive. Sidelights are exclusively for standing still; for driving you need dipped beam (or full beam)
‘As soon as you unhitch your trailer or caravan and leave it standing separately, the lighting duty when stopped no longer applies — it only applies to the coupled combination’ – is that true?
No. The requirement explicitly applies 'also to any trailer or caravan,' and 'it does not matter whether it is attached to your car or unhitched.' Being unhitched changes nothing about that
‘If you are stationary on the carriageway outside the built-up area at night, side lights are only advisable, not mandatory’ – is that true?
No. Outside the built-up area, sidelights when stopped are a hard duty, not just advice
‘If you have broken down on the carriageway at night, side lights are forbidden and you may use only your hazard lights’ – is that true?
No. Sidelights are mandatory here; that does not exclude using hazard lights, but it does not replace the sidelight duty