Speed limit 120 or 90?

Hey there, I continue to work on this, now Belgium: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Default_speed_limits

Can you help me? In the code of law ( https://www.wegcode.be/wetteksten/secties/kb/wegcode/170-art11 ), I am trying to understand the difference between article

11.2 1° (b)

and 11.2 2° (a)

Google translate translates both formulations into exactly the same.

11.2 1° (b), reads “anders dan door wegmarkeringen”, which means “by other means than white markings”, i.e. when there is a physical barrier (such as on motorways).

The second case is where there are only white markings, and no physical barrier between the 2 directions.

Please keep in mind that in Flanders the maxspeed outside villages is 70, while in Brussels and Wallonia this is 90. (e.g on roads with 2x1 lane).

Hope this helps. Feel free to ask more questions in order to improve your nice app.

This is actually less about the app this time and more to support OSM routers and to find a conclusive tagging scheme for unsigned speed limits. But yeah, inspired by the development on the app.

I input the information from the code of law now into the table for Belgium, see https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Default_speed_limits

What seems a bit weird is that HGV may drive 90 km/h outside built-up areas (in Wallonia and Brussels) as long as their weight is below 7.5t and then suddenly above 7.5t, only 60 km/h. 
 while buses may only go 75 km/h independent on the weight.
Did I miss something?

I got a link to https://www.code-de-la-route.be/textes-legaux/sections/ar/code-de-la-route/170-art11-v15-170 from another Belgian mapper. Busses with seatbelts for all places can do 100 on motorways. (I remember the bus vs. touring car discussion elsewhere)

BTW, car + caravan can do 120 on motorways.

Yes, it was I who started that discussion. There is now the coach=* access tag (and thus maxspeed:coach=*)

In the link you pasted, there is the following passage:
Toutefois, la vitesse des vĂ©hicules et trains de vĂ©hicules dont la masse maximale autorisĂ©e est supĂ©rieure Ă  3,5 tonnes, des autobus et des autocars y est limitĂ©e Ă  90 km Ă  l’heure.

Doesn’t trains de vĂ©hicules include vehicles with trailers?

probably, but since you need a special driver license to drive a combination with MTM higher than 3.5t, I guess most car + caravan are below that. A car + small trailer (typically under 750kg) can also do 120.
AFAIK, this is also true for France.

Unlike in Germany where caravans(or with any trailer behind your car) can only do 80 unless car+caravan gets a special inspection. Then they can do 100.

Most likely a large van + trailer is above 3.5t MTM and can only do 90.

If you are old enough (from 1967 or older), you can get a free BE driver license which allows you to drive car/van + caravan (maybe trailer) whose combined MTM is above 3.5t. If you are younger, you need to pass a special exam.

Well, citation from law text is required. It doesn’t help if you speak from experience when I am holding the code of law under your nose. :stuck_out_tongue:

You need the correct dates though.
The argument about busses allowed to do 100 is a recent change:

https://wegcode.be/actueel/2148-de-wegverkeerswet-werd-bijgewerkt-met-de-wet-ter-verbetering-van-de-verkeersveiligheid-van-6-maart-2018

Hmm right, the law I was looking at was from 1975. But I do not see any newer one. Do I have to go through every single “amendment” to find out how the current law looks like??

tldr: skip to past the bold text.

Okay, I control-effed my way through 21 years of amendments to the code of law, searching for modifications of Article 11.
Indeed, there were three modifications throughout the time:

  • 1997: increased max speed for motorcycles of class B by 5 km/h to 45 km/h
  • 2007: lower speed limits now apply for lorries above 3.5t instead of above 7.5t
  • 2018: coaches with seatbelts for all passengers may go up to 100 km/h

.oO(Sheesh, how long will it take legislators to use version control systems instead of an endless stream of paper documents with each lengthy “I, the king Albert decree that
” boilerplate and long-winded explanations what sentences in what articles have exactly been changed)

Anyway, after finding this out, I realised that these changes have already been incorporated in the Article 11 document, so yeah, I confirmed that the linked source has the most current information.
Also, giving it a second look, the 100 km/h limit for coaches on motorways and other dual carriageways is already in the table on the Default speed limits page. Sooo, this was all pretty much a waste of time.

Coming back to the topic,
we still need a source for the claim that cars+trailers may go 120 on the motorway. The law text is

Since I do not understand French and must rely on Google Translate, I was asking how trains de vĂ©hicules would be translated. And, does it include trailers, or not? (Google Translate just gives me “Vehicle trains”, whatever that is supposed to be)

Or did I (Google Translate) interpret the “and” wrong? Is it “vehicles (and trains of vehicles) with a mass over 3.5 tonnes 
”?

The wegcode / code de la route site keeps what we call a ‘consolidated version’ of the text, so with all the proper edits to give the current state.

In an attempt to aid you, I’ll go from the dutch version to english:

The ‘train de vehicules’ in dutch becomes ‘slepen’ and I peeked at the definitions given in the first chapters:

Which (and I’ll try and do this literally):
“each group of vehicules linked to eachother, with the aim of moving them through the same force”
So basically a vehicule + whatever it can push/pull/move (let’s assume the majority is ‘pulling’).

So the translation should equal to:

Or in short: the 100 km/h option for busses/motorcars only applies when the seats have seatbelts, speed limiter to 100 km/h, and it’s marked as a speedway, not just a 2x2 with a fysical seperation between both driving directions.

And the 90km/h speed limit only if the total mass of vehicle plus trailer is above 3.5t, understood. Thank you :slight_smile: