Expats who can swap their foreign driving licence for a Dutch one without taking lessons are causing dangerous situations on Amsterdam roads, according to driving instructors quoted in Tuesday’s Parool.

In particular, the driving instructors are concerned that new arrivals don’t understand Dutch road signs and are not aware of the give-way rules, and say everyone should be required to take lessons before they can get behind the wheel.

Everyone who wants to drive a car in the Netherlands must have a Dutch licence, but EU and Efta nationals have five or 15 years to swap, depending on the category of vehicle they wish to drive. Others have 185 days grace before they must have a Dutch licence.

EU and EFTA nationals don’t have to take a test to swap their licence for a Dutch one and nor do people in the Netherlands with a highly skilled migrant visa and who are eligible for the 30% ruling. This, say safety experts, is where the problem lies.

Road safety organisation Veilig Verkeer Nederland says it is also concerned about the risk. “We should not want to have people driving around who don’t know the rules,” spokesman Willemijn Pomper said. “The expat ruling should not be at the expense of road safety. Let employers pay for driving lessons.”

• The long and winding road to a Dutch driving licence

According to the Dutch driving licence authority 26,264 people took advantage of the option last year, most of whom came from India, Turkey, South Africa, Russia and Brazil.

Mustafa Ali, an Amsterdam driving instructor, said he thought “90% would fail if they were tested.” He regularly gives lessons to expats, some of whom have a licence already. “They don’t drive badly but dangerous situations can occur because they don’t have the knowledge and so can’t keep to the rules here.”

Driving instructor Amer, one of several instructors who warned the council about the problem four years ago, said some expats don’t take lessons because of the cost. “And in the meantime, they drive around in a company car,” he said.

One of his expat clients, he said, had taken 30 lessons to pass a Dutch test, even though he had a licence already.

Evidence

One American expat who did not want to be named told the Parool that it is easy to pass a driving test in the US. “The aim of a driving licence is road safety,” he said. “So we should all be checked, including expats.”

Despite the driving instructors concerns, the paper did not quote any evidence that foreign workers are more likely to cause problems.

According to transport ministry research in 2022, there are “no indications that of an increased risk to road safety posed by this group of drivers” and that report contained no concrete examples of accidents or traffic offences by expats, the Parool said.

Dozens of Dutch News readers shared their experiences of getting a driving licence last year.