I have a question about Belgian traffic law.
Is it legal to overtake someone when there's a dubbel broken line, as seen on the picture? Asking for a friend

by Wombels

15 comments

  3. No idea,

    But, you can take an easy screenshot by pressing: windows key + ctrl + S

  4. I dunno, but I don’t think so. Because there appears to be a lowered gutter in the middle, plus a regular repeated verdrijvingsvlak every so many meters. You are never allowed to drive over vedrijvingsvlak, and if you wanted to pass someone here, there is no way to avoid driving over it.

  6. I’ve never seen this before so I have no certainty in this at all but I would say “yes but probably dont”.

    In theory you can cross broken lines but not those striped areas that appear to be every couple dozen meters or so. So while I don’t see a reason why you wouldnt be allowed to dodge the striped areas and go over the broken lines I still wouldn’t.

  7. yes as long as you do it fast and not drive over those full lines

  8. Dashed lines do not prohibit overtaking. There could be a designated “no overtaking”-sign (probably after crossing) thaugh but I see none on the screenshot.

  9. That was probably a 3 lanes road before putting the cyclist lanes on each side (with a middle lane painted like that for turning,… like we see an intersection just in front that’s why you have “dashed line” before and after to indicate the turn lane)), and they just repainted as it was before but with a smaller middle lane. Seeing it is in Wallonia prove the point that the cyclist part was only an afterthought as we had nothing for cyclist a decade ago in a lot of place. ^_^

    So the answer is “you can probably overtake on this road, but not at this location as it become a turn lane for the intersection”.

  10. Yes, yes you can. I love how nobody knows this….

    It is a wider road, so they chose double broken lines. Those markers also mean that that area can be used by both directions of travel (convention of Vienna art 26C; A.6).

    The diagonal markers are place on broken lines, not continuous lines, wich means you can access them if it is safe.
    If they wouldn’t place these diagonal markers you would be able to use this (small) lane all the time. (But there is a law stating you always have to use the most right lane…)

  11. Yes. It’s not a continuous line so you can drive on it if you require to perform a maneuver, like overtaking or turning around. I believe (but I don’t have any evidence of this) that the stripes on the middle lane are to indicate that it is not a bike lane.

  12. Yes.

    The only case in Belgium where you may not overtake is when there’s a continuous line. Well, and, additionally, when it’s not physically possible, of course.

    *In theory, cases like blind turns and blind hill tops should always have a continuous white line. But yes, illegal to overtake in these too, if they forgot the line.*

    Edit: Also forbidden if there’s the sign that forbids overtaking (see answer to my comment).

  14. I don’t think so, because there is an intersection (at least one a bit further to the left, maybe another on the right?) and there is 2 painted blocks in the middle (before and after the intersection) that you cannot cross, because partially are marked with continuous lines. At least, you cannot overtake between the 2 marked blocks.

    Can you give the exact direction or check with streetview? Normally there will be signals prohibiting overtaking.

  15. According to our road law;

    Title III, Chapter III, § 72.3: « *A broken (dashed) line means that drivers are not allowed to cross it, except to pass, turn left, make a U-turn, or change lanes. »*

    **BUT**, § 77.4 also tells: « *Directional islands and no-passing zones may be marked on the ground with parallel white lines. Drivers may not drive, stop, or park on these markings. »*

    My interpretation is that you can cross it but not drive over the no-passing zones. So overtaking looks near-impossible if you want to follow the law.

    Source: [https://www.code-de-la-route.be/fr/reglementation/1975120109~hra8v386pu#ccbtfct3ms](https://www.code-de-la-route.be/fr/reglementation/1975120109~hra8v386pu#ccbtfct3ms) (FR)

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