How this site is verified

Where a verdict comes from

The checker does not ask an AI. Your answers are evaluated in your browser against versioned rules files: one file per topic, each rule with its source URL and verification date. The same files build the country pages, the cost tables and this page, so a number cannot differ between two pages. Every verdict shows the rules version it was computed from, and the "Why?" panel under it lists the rules that fired, with their sources.

The rules files, readable by anyone or anything:

• jurisdictions.json: Every ISO 3166-1 code plus the sub-national entries (CA-AB, CA-QC, CA-OTHER, GB-GBN, GB-NIR, XK): rule group, exchangeable categories, licence script, RDW source and verified date.
• validity_rules.json: How long a foreign licence stays valid for driving in the Netherlands, rule by rule, with sources.
• exchange_rules.json: The RDW exchange decision tree as ordered predicates, with sources and process facts.
• fees.json: Official 2026 fees (CBR, gemeente, RDW) and the six-city municipal overrides. Derived amounts and market estimates are labelled as such.
• retest_assumptions.json: Lesson counts, lesson prices, theory-course prices and exam-attempt defaults used by the cost estimate; market data is labelled.
• next_steps.json: The step-by-step text for each route, each step with its official page.
• exam_requirements.json: Which CBR exams each licence category needs, in which languages the theory exam exists, and the interpreter rules.
• conventions.json: Parties to the 1949 Geneva and 1968 Vienna road traffic conventions (UN Treaty Collection), used for the International Driving Permit block on the country pages. Not a Dutch rule.
• country_licences.json: The category tables on the tier-1 country pages: what each class on the foreign licence covers at home (read from that country's own licensing authority, cited per entry) and the closest Dutch category. Our reading, not an official equivalence; the RDW decides on exchange.

Entry point: /rules/index.json. Every country page has a JSON twin at the same address plus .json. A plain-text summary for AI assistants: /llms.txt. To build a link that opens someone's verdict: the result-link format.

How a rule gets in

1. Only official pages count as a source. RDW, CBR, the law on wetten.overheid.nl, Rijksoverheid, Belastingdienst, VNG, the European Union and the gemeenten themselves. Third-party summaries, forums and blogs are never the citation. Of the 59 pages the rules cite, 36 are official; the other 23 are companies' own pages for market data (lesson prices, translations, theory courses, car access), and every number from them is labelled "estimate" and can be changed by you.
2. Every change ships with a source, a date and a test. A rule, fee, date or threshold does not change without the official URL, the day it was read, and a test case in the suite of persona tests that must pass before a change is published. The release notes record every version.
3. When official pages conflict, the rules protect you. Where two official pages disagree, or a page is silent, the site encodes the cautious reading and says "confirm via the RDW checklist" rather than giving a confident answer that could leave you driving uninsured or losing an exchange right. The readings currently in force are listed below.
4. Every cited page is re-checked monthly. A script fetches each of the 59 source pages, compares it with the version last read, and opens a review task when a page has changed. Nothing is updated without a person re-reading the page that day; the verification date only moves after that re-read.
5. Errors are reported with the exact result. "Something wrong? Tell us" on any result page sends the result link and the rules version, so the case can be reproduced exactly. You can also write to hello@drivingschools.nl.

Where the usual assumptions were wrong

Before the rules were encoded, the facts we started with were checked one by one against the official pages on 2 September 2026. These are the places where the official page said something different. The rules encode the official position, and each row links the page it rests on.

All rows read on 2 September 2026; the full list lives in the rules document in the repository.

The cautious readings in force

• An expired EU/EFTA licence: "likely exchangeable, confirm via the RDW checklist", never a flat yes, because the RDW English page and the Dutch checklist differ. RDW, exchanging a foreign licence
• A UK or Gibraltar licence: the checker asks no extra question; holders who moved before 1 January 2021 are told to confirm via the RDW checklist, and provisional licences are excluded. Regeling omwisseling niet-Nederlandse rijbewijzen
• Driving while the exchange is pending: allowed per the RDW on a still-valid licence, with a warning that some gemeenten advise against it. RDW exchange checklist
• An EU/EFTA licence issued in the same month as your Dutch registration, when you only give the month: the site says it cannot tell from the month alone, instead of guessing which came first. RDW, driving with a foreign licence
• Any gemeente not on the checked list gets the €53.65 national maximum, never a lower guess; Amsterdam gets its own €64.65. VNG, licence fee 2026
• Lesson counts for experienced drivers, translation prices and course prices are market data, always shown as a range, labelled "estimate", and yours to change. CBR, what a car licence costs

What this site does not do

• It does not generate answers with AI. The rules are written and checked by hand; a program applies them.
• It does not give legal advice. The RDW checklist is the authority; the site tells you when to use it.
• It does not ask your nationality. The rules turn on the country that issued the licence.
• It does not store your answers. A result lives in its link; nothing is sent to a server unless you choose to send a report or a request.