At a primary school in Steenbergen there is a '30 km/h zone' sign. What is the maximum speed (in km/h) in such a zone?
Show the answer
Correct answer: 30 km/u
Correct: 30.0 km/u (±2.0).
The 30 km/h zone: where it lies, and why its end has no fixed rule
What the exam asks here: Students who have just read the woonerf section quickly paste '15 km/h' onto every low-speed zone.
The trap
Many learners think: In a 30 km/h zone, just like on a woonerf, a maximum speed of 15 km/h applies.
The rule is: A 30 km/h zone is named after its maximum speed, 30 km/h, not 15. The 15 km/h belongs to the woonerf, a different type of area
Challenge
Students who have just read the woonerf section quickly paste '15 km/h' onto every low-speed zone. The CBR exam designer deliberately places woonerf and 30 km/h zone side by side for that reason. The book gives two separate figures and two separate reasons for laying them out.
The model
30 km/h zones are mainly laid out where there is a lot of mixed (fast/slow) traffic and near schools (Book p.90). The entrance is often an inrit/uitrit — you then give way to everyone. The end is not automatically the same: sometimes it is simply an equal-priority junction, where traffic from the right has priority.
Core
A 30 km/h zone is mainly laid out in places with a lot of mixed traffic — fast and slow mixed together — and near schools (Book p.90). That is a different reason than the woonerf: the woonerf is about pedestrians ON the roadway, the 30 km/h zone is about tempering mixed traffic. The entrance to a 30 km/h zone is often an inrit/uitrit: when entering or exiting you then give way to all road users, just like at any other inrit. But the end of the zone is not always an uitrit — the book explicitly shows a counter-example: sometimes it is simply an equal-priority junction, where the ordinary priority-from-the-right rule applies. So never automatically assume the inrit/uitrit rule at the end of a zone; look at the junction itself.
Why it matters
If you blindly apply the inrit/uitrit rule at every zone end, you stop unnecessarily for traffic that should actually have given way to YOU — confusing both for you and for the driver behind you. The book therefore forces you to look afresh at every zone end: is this an uitrit, or just a junction?
Active recall
In Steenbergen you are driving out of a 30 km/h zone. At the end you see no inrit blocks or lowered kerb, just an ordinary junction with a road coming from the right. What applies here?
Teach back
Explain: why are 30 km/h zones laid out, which rule applies when entering, and why can you not simply assume the same rule at the end?
Memory hook
30 km/h zone: mixed traffic + schools. Entrance = often inrit/uitrit. End ≠ automatically an uitrit — check the junction.
The picture
Signs and law
- RVV 1990 art. 20 — Inside the built-up area the speed limit for motor vehicles is 50 km/h (mopeds 45 on the carriageway, 30 on the cycle/moped path).
- RVV 1990 art. 54 — A driver performing a special manoeuvre (moving off, reversing, leaving a driveway, turning around, merging, exiting, changing lane) lets other traffic go first.
Test yourself
At a primary school in Steenbergen, quarter to nine in the morning, you drive into a street with cycling children and slowly accelerating cars mixed together. A sign shows '30 km/h zone'. Why was a 30 km/h zone chosen here specifically, instead of a woonerf?
Show the answer
30 km/h zones are mainly laid out where there is a lot of mixed (fast/slow) traffic and near schools (Book p.90). The entrance is often an inrit/uitrit — you then give way to everyone. The end is not automatically the same: sometimes it is simply an equal-priority junction, where traffic from the right has priority.
Exam questions on this topic
In Klundert the municipality is discussing where a new 30 km/h zone should be placed. Which two locations best fit the book rule?
- A street with a lot of mixed (fast/slow) traffic, and a street near a school
- A street where pedestrians may walk on the roadway, and a street with only parking spaces
Show the answer
Correct answer: A street with a lot of mixed (fast/slow) traffic, and a street near a school
Why learners get this wrong: In a 30 km/h zone, just like on a woonerf, a maximum speed of 15 km/h applies.
You drive into a 30 km/h zone in Steenbergen via a clear inrit. Statement: no special priority rule applies here, it is just an ordinary road.
- True
- False
Show the answer
Correct answer: False
Why learners get this wrong: When entering a 30 km/h zone via an inrit, no special priority rules apply — it is just an ordinary road.
In Steenbergen you enter a 30 km/h zone over a lowered kerb. Later you leave the zone at a junction of two equal streets, without a lowered kerb, shark's teeth or signs. A car is approaching from the left. How do you act on entering and on leaving?
- Entering: traffic from the right goes first; leaving: you go before the car from the left
- Entering: give way to everyone; leaving: you go before the car from the left
- Entering: give way to everyone; leaving: you let the car from the left go first
Show the answer
Correct answer: Entering: give way to everyone; leaving: you go before the car from the left
False — you treat the end of the zone as an uitrit. The end of a zone is not always an uitrit; at this ordinary equal junction traffic from the right has priority, so the car from the left must let you go first
Why learners get this wrong: When entering a 30 km/h zone via an inrit, no special priority rules apply — it is just an ordinary road.
Which statements about the 30 km/h zone are correct? (select all correct; Book p.90)
- The end of the zone is always an uitrit
- The entrance is often an inrit/uitrit
- The maximum speed is 15 km/h, just like on a woonerf
- They are mainly laid out where there is a lot of mixed traffic and near schools
Show the answer
Correct answer: The entrance is often an inrit/uitrit; They are mainly laid out where there is a lot of mixed traffic and near schools
Why learners get this wrong: At the end of every 30 km/h zone it is always an uitrit, so you must always give way to all traffic there.
In Steenbergen you drive into a 30 km/h zone near a school. The entrance is a driveway-type access: you cross a continuous pavement. On the zone street schoolchildren cycle between the cars; pedestrians stay on the pavement. What do you do?
- At the entrance you drive on as on any road; after that at most 30 km/h
- At the entrance you let the traffic go first; after that at most 15 km/h
- At the entrance you let the traffic go first; after that at most 30 km/h
Show the answer
Correct answer: At the entrance you let the traffic go first; after that at most 30 km/h
False — you do not recognise the zone entrance as a driveway-type access. If you enter a 30 km/h zone via such an access, you let all road users go first, just as at any other driveway
Why learners get this wrong: When entering a 30 km/h zone via an inrit, no special priority rules apply — it is just an ordinary road.
In Steenbergen you are driving out of a 30 km/h zone. At the end you see no inrit blocks or lowered kerb, just an ordinary junction with a road coming from the right. What applies here?
- Every zone end is an uitrit — you must always give way to everyone
- This is an ordinary equal-priority junction — traffic from the right has priority
Show the answer
Correct answer: This is an ordinary equal-priority junction — traffic from the right has priority
The end of a 30 km/h zone is not always an uitrit; here it is an ordinary junction with priority from the right
Why learners get this wrong: At the end of every 30 km/h zone it is always an uitrit, so you must always give way to all traffic there.
About The 30 km/h zone: where it lies, and why its end has no fixed rule: which statement is WRONG?
- The end of a 30 km/h zone is not always an uitrit; it can be an ordinary equal-priority junction where traffic from the right has priority.
- In a 30 km/h zone, just like on a woonerf, a maximum speed of 15 km/h applies.
- The entrance to a 30 km/h zone is often an inrit/uitrit; when entering you must then give way to all road users, just like at any other inrit.
Show the answer
Correct answer: In a 30 km/h zone, just like on a woonerf, a maximum speed of 15 km/h applies.
A 30 km/h zone is named after its maximum speed, 30 km/h, not 15. The 15 km/h belongs to the woonerf, a different type of area
Why learners get this wrong: At the end of every 30 km/h zone it is always an uitrit, so you must always give way to all traffic there.
A 30 km/h zone is named after its maximum speed, 30 km/h, not 15.
- False
- True
Show the answer
Correct answer: True
A 30 km/h zone is named after its maximum speed, 30 km/h, not 15. The 15 km/h belongs to the woonerf, a different type of area
Why learners get this wrong: In a 30 km/h zone, just like on a woonerf, a maximum speed of 15 km/h applies.
Frequently asked questions
‘In a 30 km/h zone, just like on a woonerf, a maximum speed of 15 km/h applies’ – is that true?
No. A 30 km/h zone is named after its maximum speed, 30 km/h, not 15. The 15 km/h belongs to the woonerf, a different type of area
‘At the end of every 30 km/h zone it is always an uitrit, so you must always give way to all traffic there’ – is that true?
No. The end of a 30 km/h zone is not always an uitrit; it can be an ordinary equal-priority junction where traffic from the right has priority. Check the junction type, do not blindly assume the inrit/uitrit rule
‘When entering a 30 km/h zone via an inrit, no special priority rules apply — it is just an ordinary road’ – is that true?
No. The entrance to a 30 km/h zone is often an inrit/uitrit; when entering you must then give way to all road users, just like at any other inrit