uitgezonderd fietsen (except bikes)

Signage and Cycling In Leuven

Belgium is known for perennially wet streets, and though the buses are free for students and run often, the most common mode of transportation for Leuven students is by bike. Because of the heavy non-motorized traffic, there are a good number of signs and special road markings just for bikes and pedestrians. Trained to walk in the "pedestrian is always right" walkways of the US, it's taken a little adjusting to heed street signage. And though I don't have a bike yet, it will be important to learn what the signage means as the rules strictly enforced by the "stadpolitie" -- a friend of Katie's recently received a 150 euro fine for riding his bike the wrong way on a one-way street.

To help incoming international students get acquainted with the rules and regulations that apply to cyclists, An Goedefroy, a Leuven "Police-Inspector and Studentcop" wrote a simple (6 mb, 88-page .pdf!) guide to biking. Fortunately, the rules aren't really that complicated -- this guide is full of white space and (sometimes funny) pictures -- a quick read that is a helpful introduction to the general rules of the road.

Road rules are basically the same as in the states -- drive on the right, stop at red lights, yield to pedestrians -- and for the most part, the signage is easy to interpret. That said...

I would not have guessed the meaning of these signs a priori.

This does not mean that pedestrians are not allowed, it means that the pedestrian-only zone is now ending.

Signs are modified by special cases, which hang on a sign below. Here, the stop sign is clear enough, but it only applies to bikes.

Once you learn that uitgezonderd means "except for" these signs are pretty clear.

One difference in rules between the States and Belgium is at at four way intersections without street signs, where you don't need to stop unless someone is approaching, then "yield to the right" rules come into play.

Sign B15 would let you know that you had right of way. Without it, even if you think you are on a more "main road," you still must yield.

My suspicion is that these intersections really only happen in rural areas or in low-speed-limit neighborhoods, where any reasonable person would slow down no matter where they learned to drive.

Another difference between Belgium and the US is that white lines down the middle of the road means that traffic goes two ways. On the first day I arrived in Leuven I did not realize this, and there were a few occasions where in my jet lagged state of awareness, I accidentally stepped out into oncoming traffic without looking.

The best part about the guide, though, are the funny pictures.

Re: lower left, I could see a bike going down, but up ... ?

Road-painters' scrap paper?

"They'll get the idea"