Challenge
Red feels like 'danger, so pay extra attention and drive through' — like a traffic light that just turned amber and you can still make it. At sign F5-F6 it works exactly the other way around: the colour itself, not your gut feeling about that colour, decides who stops.
Read this section on its own page: Challenge: Keeping right, road narrowing (F5/F6) and obstacles
The model
If you are driving in the direction of the red arrow (sign F5), you stop (Book p.60). If you are driving in the direction of the white arrow (sign F6), your oncoming driver stops — you may proceed. These signs apply only between drivers.
Read this section on its own page: The model: Keeping right, road narrowing (F5/F6) and obstacles
Core
The basics: you must keep right as much as possible, but not drive too close to the kerb or the verge. If the road is too narrow for you and an oncoming driver, you both move aside (Book p.60). At a road narrowing, signs F5-F6 usually decide who goes first: if you are driving toward the red arrow, you stop; if you are driving toward the white arrow, your oncoming driver stops. These signs apply only between drivers, not for example toward pedestrians (Book p.60). If there is no sign, the same basic logic without an arrow applies to an obstacle: when there is not enough room, whoever has the obstacle on their own half of the road must stop. If the obstacle is on the oncoming driver's half of the road, that driver stops — not you (Book p.61).
Read this section on its own page: Core: Keeping right, road narrowing (F5/F6) and obstacles
Why it matters
These rules prevent exactly the kind of misunderstanding that leads to a head-on situation at a narrow bridge or an obstacle: if both drivers assume the OTHER one will stop, they both keep driving. The F5/F6 colours and the half-of-the-road rule for obstacles give one unambiguous answer to 'who stops here' — no negotiation needed in the moment itself.
Read this section on its own page: Why it matters: Keeping right, road narrowing (F5/F6) and obstacles
Source: RVV 1990 art. 3 · checked 2026-10-22
Frequently asked questions
‘Keeping right means driving as close as possible to the kerb or the verge’ – is that true?
No. You must keep right as much as possible, but do not drive too close to the kerb or the verge; if the road is too narrow for you and an oncoming driver, you both move aside
‘At sign F5-F6, the red arrow means you may drive through and the white arrow means you must stop’ – is that true?
No. If you are driving in the direction of the red arrow, you must stop; if you are driving in the direction of the white arrow, the oncoming drivers — not you — must stop. Red = you stop, white = you may proceed
‘At an obstacle on the road, it is always the oncoming driver who must stop, never you’ – is that true?
No. When there is not enough room, whoever has the obstacle on their own half of the road must stop; if the obstacle is on the oncoming driver's half of the road, that driver stops, not you
‘The obstacle give-way rule only applies if there is an F5-F6 sign; without a sign there is no fixed rule’ – is that true?
No. The same basic rules apply to obstacles as to a road narrowing without a sign: whoever has the obstacle on their own half of the road stops when there is not enough room. This rule applies even without sign F5-F6
‘Signs F5 and F6 also decide who goes first in relation to crossing pedestrians’ – is that true?
No. These signs apply only between drivers, not toward pedestrians
