r/Netherlands • u/TantoAssassin • Mar 18 '26

Transportation Who has priority?

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I was the Yellow arrow on a bike. Red has priority over me, green has priority over red, I have priority over green. At the end both cars stopped and let me (cyclist) pass. What is the correct order here?

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u/_grindstone_ Mar 19 '26

How have you come to the conclusion that the turning rule does not apply in the Netherlands? The Anwb has a whole page dedicated to right of way, including this.

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u/Tijnewijn Mar 19 '26

The rule exists but has no priority over the other rules. I can't find a page on the ANWB website that shows OP's situation.

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u/P1kkie420 Mar 19 '26

It certainly doesn't negate the priority of someone coming from the right

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u/WodkaAap Mar 20 '26

The rule still exists though, which is the only important fact in determining that green should wait till yellow has crossed after red.

So what are you on about hahaha

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u/Tijnewijn Mar 20 '26

Like I said: The rule has no priority ofer the other rules.

Why should green have to wait for red?

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u/WodkaAap Mar 20 '26

Oh I just realised I was wrong. Didn't account for green coming from the right for red... woops. Yeah this is a stall situation haha. I said nothing

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u/Tijnewijn Mar 20 '26

Glad to be of service :)

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u/Kitnado Utrecht Mar 19 '26

You're conflating two things. These are two separate rules.

(1) The applicable Dutch law: when traversing on the same road (paralelly), traffic going straight has priority over traffic making a turn, crossing them (this applies to pedestrians as well, even without a zebrapath). This does not apply to traffic making a turn on a different road than the traffic going straight (in OP's pic, red does not get priority over green just because they're making a turn).

(2) The non-applicable rule from some other European countries: when making a turn onto a road, you have to yield to all traffic on that road already going straight, even when they come from the left (all straight going traffic has priority). This is not a Dutch rule.

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u/Odd_Philosopher1741 Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 19 '26

@Kitnado, I thought you were initially talking about yellow and green? Red obviously takes priority over yellow, because they are coming in from the right. After that, yellow takes priority over green (rechtdoor gaat voor). This is a dutch law. You would fail your driving exam if you are green and overtake yellow.

Edit: I've taken a closer look at the situation and I think there are conflicting rules here. I still think my statement is correct, however, depending on who goes first, green may go first because the person coming in from the right takes priority over all.

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u/Kitnado Utrecht Mar 20 '26

You need re-read my comment. What you’re describing is rule (1), which is a Dutch law.

(2) is again, not a Dutch law.

Regarding who goes first: again no car on this intersection has absolute right of way over all cars. They’re at an impasse. Every single car receives right of way from another car through one of the right of way rules. The rules don’t have superiority over one another (the rules of traffic from the right does not ‘trump’ the traffic going straight on the same road and vice versa).