The standard legal limit
Alcohollimiet
For drivers who have held a full licence for more than five years, the limit is 0.5 promille (0.5 g of alcohol per litre of blood), equal to about 220 micrograms per litre of breath.
Rule
How strict are the Dutch alcohol limits really?
The Netherlands sets a legal blood alcohol limit, but that limit is not the same for everyone. Experienced drivers face one threshold, while drivers in their first years on the road face a much lower one.
The exam expects you to know the actual numbers, how the body processes alcohol, and that no shortcut — coffee, food, fresh air — speeds up sobering. It also expects awareness of drug testing and medicines that affect driving fitness.
This guide sets out the limits, the testing process, the penalties and the everyday judgement calls the exam likes to test, such as recognising when you are not fit to drive at all.
Experienced driver
The legal alcohol limit is 0,5‰ blood alcohol.
Beginning driver
The limit is 0,2‰, and it applies to moped and snorfiets riders too.
Drugs and medicines
Designated drugs have their own statutory limits, and medicines with the yellow warning sticker can make you unfit to drive.
Guidance
What you need to understand
The beginner driver limit
Beginnende bestuurder
New drivers face a lower limit of 0.2 promille (about 88 micrograms per litre of breath) for the first five years after passing, or seven years if the first licence was obtained at 17 through 2toDrive.
One standard drink, roughly
Standaardglas
A standard glass of beer, wine or spirits raises blood alcohol by roughly 0.2 to 0.3 promille in an average adult, though body weight, sex and empty-stomach drinking all change this.
The body only clears alcohol with time
Afbraak van alcohol
The liver removes alcohol at roughly one standard drink per hour. Coffee, cold showers, exercise or a large meal do not speed this up — only time does.
Breath and evidential testing
Blaastest
Police may stop any driver for a preliminary breath test at the roadside. A reading above the limit leads to a follow-up evidential breath or blood test used for prosecution.
Drugs have their own limits
Drugslimiet
Cannabis, cocaine, MDMA and several other substances each have a separate legal threshold in blood. Police can use a roadside saliva test to screen for recent drug use.
Combining alcohol and drugs
Combinatiegebruik
Using alcohol together with drugs, or certain medicines together with alcohol, is treated as an additional risk factor and can trigger stricter combined thresholds.
Medicines and the yellow sticker
Gele waarschuwingssticker
Medicines that can affect reaction time or alertness carry a yellow warning triangle sticker on the packaging. Check with a pharmacist before driving if your medicine carries one.
Fatigue counts too
Vermoeidheid
Driving while extremely tired impairs judgement and reaction time in a similar way to alcohol, even though it is not tested with a breath device. Fitness to drive covers more than substances.
Consequences of exceeding the limit
Sanctie
Penalties range from a fine and points at lower readings to an educational measure (EMA or LEMA), a driving ban, or invalidation of the licence at higher readings or repeat offences.
Guidance
Use this five-step fitness-to-drive check
- 1
Have I had any alcohol at all today?
If you are a beginner driver, even one drink can put you over the much lower 0.2 promille limit.
- 2
How long ago was my last drink?
Remember that only time reduces blood alcohol, at roughly one standard drink per hour — never assume you are clear by morning after a late night.
- 3
Have I taken any medicine with a warning sticker?
Check the packaging or ask a pharmacist whether a medicine affects alertness before you plan to drive.
- 4
Could drugs still be detectable in my system?
Some substances remain detectable well after their effects have worn off, so 'feeling fine' is not proof you are within the legal limit.
- 5
Am I tired enough that my judgement is affected?
Severe fatigue impairs driving even without alcohol or drugs, and it is still your responsibility to decide not to drive.
- 6
If in doubt, what is the safer choice?
Arrange another way home rather than testing whether you are under the limit — the consequences of being wrong are severe.
The point of this list is a consistent way to judge your own fitness to drive before you leave, not a script to recite in the exam.
Vocabulary
Important Dutch terms
Promille
Per mille (‰)
Grams of alcohol per litre of blood; 0.5‰ is the general limit.
Beginnende bestuurder
Beginner driver
Lower 0.2‰ limit for the first five (or seven) years.
Blaastest
Breath test
Roadside preliminary screening test.
Ademanalyse
Evidential breath test
Follow-up test used as legal evidence.
Rijontzegging
Driving ban
A court- or CBR-imposed ban from driving.
EMA / LEMA
Educational measure (alcohol)
Mandatory course after exceeding certain thresholds.
Speekseltest
Saliva test
Roadside screening for drug use.
Rijgeschiktheid
Fitness to drive
Overall ability to drive safely, covering alcohol, drugs, medicine and fatigue.
Gele sticker
Yellow warning sticker
Marks medicines that may affect driving.
Warning
Common mistakes learners make
Assuming the general 0.5‰ limit applies to everyone
Why it's wrong: Beginner drivers within their first five (or seven) years must stay under the much stricter 0.2‰ limit, regardless of the vehicle they drive.
Believing coffee or food sobers you up
Why it's wrong: Nothing speeds up the liver's breakdown of alcohol. Only time reduces your blood alcohol level.
Thinking 'feeling fine' means being under the limit
Why it's wrong: Subjective feeling is an unreliable guide. Blood alcohol can remain above the legal limit well after effects seem to have faded.
Ignoring medicine warning labels
Why it's wrong: A yellow sticker on medicine packaging is a legal signal, not a minor suggestion — check before driving.
Assuming drug limits work the same as alcohol
Why it's wrong: Each drug has its own separate legal threshold, and several are tested with a saliva sample rather than breath.
Underestimating fatigue
Why it's wrong: Driving extremely tired is treated as a real fitness-to-drive issue on the exam, not just a comfort problem.
Assuming only heavy drinking is risky
Why it's wrong: For beginner drivers, even a single standard drink can be enough to exceed the 0.2‰ limit.
Scenario
Work through the situation step by step
Scenario 01
Scenario 1 — A beginner driver after one drink
You passed your test eight months ago. At a birthday party you have one glass of wine and plan to drive home an hour later.
- What to inspect first
- Recognise that you are a beginner driver subject to the 0.2‰ limit, far stricter than the general 0.5‰ limit.
- Correct action
- Do not drive. Arrange another way home or wait considerably longer before deciding, ideally testing with a personal breathalyser or simply not driving.
- Why
- A single standard drink can be enough to put a beginner driver over 0.2‰, even though the same drink might keep an experienced driver under 0.5‰.
Exam takeaway: Beginner drivers face a much lower legal alcohol limit.
Scenario 02
Scenario 2 — Medicine with a yellow sticker
You have started a new prescription and notice a yellow warning triangle sticker on the box. You feel normal and have an appointment across town.
- What to inspect first
- Check what the sticker and patient leaflet say about driving, and consider asking a pharmacist if unsure.
- Correct action
- Follow the guidance on the packaging, which may mean avoiding driving until you know how the medicine affects you.
- Why
- The sticker exists because some medicines impair reaction time or alertness even when a person feels fine. Fitness to drive covers more than blood alcohol readings.
Exam takeaway: A yellow warning sticker is a legal signal to check before driving, not to ignore.
Scenario 03
Scenario 3 — The morning after
You drank several glasses of wine late last night and wake up early the next morning needing to drive to work.
- What to inspect first
- Calculate roughly how many hours have passed and remember that alcohol clears at about one standard drink per hour.
- Correct action
- Assume you may still be over the limit and consider alternative transport or delaying your journey.
- Why
- A heavy evening of drinking can leave measurable blood alcohol well into the next morning, regardless of how alert you feel.
Exam takeaway: Only time reduces blood alcohol — sleep and feeling awake are not proof of being under the limit.
Quick checkpoint
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Related topics
Read the alcohol and drug driving guideAnswers
Frequently asked questions
0.5 promille (0.5 g alcohol per litre of blood, about 220 µg per litre of breath) for experienced drivers, and 0.2 promille (about 88 µg per litre of breath) for beginner drivers in their first five to seven years.
The body eliminates alcohol at roughly one standard drink per hour. Nothing else, including coffee, food or a shower, speeds this up.
Beginner drivers have less experience managing hazards, so the law applies a much stricter 0.2 promille limit for the first five years after passing, or seven years if the licence was obtained at 17 via 2toDrive.
Yes. Police can use a roadside saliva test to screen for drugs such as cannabis, cocaine and MDMA, each of which has its own separate legal threshold.
Consequences depend on the reading and can include a fine, an educational measure (EMA or LEMA), a driving ban, or invalidation of your licence for the highest readings or repeat offences.
Not all, but any medicine carrying the yellow warning triangle sticker may affect alertness or reaction time, and you should check the leaflet or ask a pharmacist before driving.
It is not tested with a breath device, but severe fatigue is recognised as impairing driving in a similar way, and fitness to drive covers more than just alcohol and drugs.
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