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BVulnerable road users ·1 / 1· ~8 min

Special vehicles and personal mobility vehicles

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Step 1. The big picture

A green agricultural tractor with a driver and an amber beacon travels in the right-hand lane of a rural road without a hard shoulder.
Agricultural tractor with an amber beacon

In one sentence…

Licence B requires you to drive with preventive priority towards pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and road users with less physical protection. A small driver error can have serious consequences, so the exam values anticipation, distance, moderate speed and reading the surroundings.

What you'll cover

  1. 1.Who is vulnerable
  2. 2.Pedestrians and designated crossings
  3. 3.Cyclists and mopeds
  4. 4.Motorcyclists and blind spots
  5. 5.Personal mobility vehicles and urban coexistence
  6. 6.Doors, stops and obstacles
  7. 7.Preventive priority

Step 2. The syllabus

2.1Who is vulnerable

Vulnerable road users are those with less physical protection against an impact: pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, users of personal mobility vehicles and people with reduced mobility.

  • Vulnerability doesn't depend on whether they have priority at that moment. It depends on the fact that an error or impact can cause them much greater harm.
  • The exam often asks about these road users in urban scenes, crossings, turns, overtaking manoeuvres and doors of parked vehicles, because these combine little margin for error.
  • Your goal as a driver is to anticipate conflicts before they appear. Reducing speed and increasing vigilance isn't courtesy, it's preventive driving.

2.2Pedestrians and designated crossings

The driver must take extra care when approaching children, older people, blind people or people with mobility problems, even when they have priority.

  • At pedestrian crossings, pavements, transport stops and areas with reduced visibility, you must adapt your speed and be ready to stop.
  • A pedestrian doesn't stop being vulnerable because they make a mistake; your duty as a driver is to anticipate and avoid the harm.
  • When a vehicle partly blocks your view of a crossing or pavement, slow down before you can see the pedestrian. Reduced visibility is already a sign of risk.

2.3Cyclists and mopeds

When overtaking bicycles or mopeds, you must leave enough lateral separation and reduce speed if circumstances require it, so as not to intimidate them.

  • On roads with several lanes per direction, overtaking cycles or mopeds must be done by fully or partly occupying the adjoining lane when necessary to guarantee safety.
  • Don't overtake if you can't maintain margin, visibility and control. Being in a hurry doesn't justify passing close to or intimidating someone with less stability.
  • At turns, junctions and roundabouts, check mirrors and blind spots. A cyclist can be on a path you don't see if you only look straight ahead.

2.4Motorcyclists and blind spots

Motorcyclists are more visible than a bicycle in some situations, but they still have little physical protection against an impact.

  • Before changing lane, opening a door or turning, check your mirrors and blind spot. The so-called dooring effect is a typical cause of collisions.
  • Don't invade a motorcycle's lateral space in tailbacks or narrow lanes. Keeping a predictable course avoids scares and defensive manoeuvres.
  • In the exam, a small motorcycle in the mirror can be the key to the answer. Don't treat the image as if it only contained cars.

2.5Personal mobility vehicles and urban coexistence

Personal mobility vehicles don't follow exactly the same rules as a car, but they remain vulnerable road users and may be subject to additional local bylaws.

  • In urban settings, you must anticipate unexpected crossings, changes of direction and mixed traffic in low-speed zones or areas near schools.
  • The best defence is to read your surroundings before a conflict appears: school zones, delivery riders, cycle lanes, shared crossings and parked vehicles.
  • If a local bylaw or sign regulates a shared space, you must respect it. If you don't know the detail, apply caution and don't invent permissions.

2.6Doors, stops and obstacles

Never open a door without checking your mirrors and blind spot; the so-called dooring effect is a typical cause of collisions with cyclists and motorcyclists.

  • Near stops, schools, bins or tall vehicles, expect hidden movements. The risk doesn't start when you see the road user, but when they might appear.
  • When parking or setting off, signal, look and move slowly. A vulnerable road user may occupy a space you thought was clear seconds earlier.
  • The DGT uses these scenes a lot because they seem simple. The decisive detail is usually who could be hidden or suffer more harm.

2.7Preventive priority

Having priority does not authorise you to maintain your speed if the other road user could enter into conflict. The duty to avoid harm still applies.

  • Reducing speed, leaving space and signalling your manoeuvres also protects whoever makes a mistake. Defensive driving does not mean giving up the rules.
  • At crossings, cycle lanes, turns and overtaking manoeuvres, combine the rule with technical empathy: imagine the vulnerable road user hasn't seen you.
  • Practise questions by first looking for the most fragile road user. That approach makes clear when you must give way, wait, keep your distance or take extra care before moving on.

Step 3. Key points

If you only have a minute before the exam, revise this.

  1. 1.Reduce speed at crossings, near schools and in complex urban areas.
  2. 2.Overtake cycles and mopeds with enough lateral separation.
  3. 3.Check mirrors and blind spot before opening doors or turning.
  4. 4.Anticipate pedestrians hidden by vehicles, stops or obstacles.
  5. 5.Respect signs and local bylaws applicable to personal mobility vehicles.
  6. 6.Don't confuse formal priority with permission to create risk.
  7. 7.Read the scene looking for the road user with the least physical protection.

Step 4. Exam traps

Mistakes the DGT uses again and again on this topic.

  • Believing the vehicle's priority removes the duty of caution towards pedestrians or cyclists.
  • Forgetting that the other road user's vulnerability requires extra anticipation even when the manoeuvre is allowed.
  • Overtaking a bicycle without margin because there's no oncoming traffic.
  • Opening the door while looking only forward and not at the blind spot.
  • Treating personal mobility vehicles like cars or ignoring possible local bylaws.
  • Not slowing down at a partly hidden crossing until you see the pedestrian.

Step 5. Quick check

Four real exam questions on what you have just read.

Question 1/4

May a personal mobility vehicle carry passengers?

Practise more special vehicles and personal mobility vehicles questions

Step 6. Frequently asked questions about special vehicles and personal mobility vehicles

Which description matches the legal definition of a special vehicle?
Vehicles for works or services with technical exemptions or permanent excess mass or dimensions, and agricultural machinery with its trailers. It includes self-propelled or towed vehicles for works or services whose characteristics exempt them from a technical requirement or permanently exceed mass or dimension limits; agricultural machinery and its trailers are also included. A transport vehicle does not become special merely because its maximum authorised mass exceeds 3,500 kg.See full question
A personal mobility vehicle is generally characterized as:
Designed for one person and powered exclusively by electric motors. A PMV has one or more wheels, space for one person and exclusively electric propulsion, with a maximum design speed between 6 and 25 km/h. It may have a seat or saddle only if self-balancing. The definition excludes, among others, reduced-mobility vehicles and vehicles subject to European Regulation 168/2013. A two-seat moped is not a PMV.See full question
Under the General Vehicle Regulation, is a self-propelled agricultural machine with two or more axles, designed and built for agricultural work, a special vehicle?
Yes. Yes. Such a self-propelled agricultural machine is defined as a special vehicle. Annex II also defines towed agricultural machines and agricultural trailers, with their conditions. Not every agricultural implement is a vehicle: engineless agricultural implements and other towed machinery under 750 kg are excluded from the towed-machine definition. Classification does not simply depend on exceeding 3,500 kg MAM.See full question
Can a special vehicle, because of its construction characteristics, be exempt from some general technical conditions or permanently exceed general mass or dimension limits?
Yes, without exemption from applicable travel conditions and authorisations. Yes. The Annex II definition in the General Vehicle Regulations includes those cases as well as agricultural machinery and trailers. This does not mean every special vehicle exceeds limits or is exempt from all technical requirements. Travel remains subject to conditions, limits and, where required, supplementary circulation authorisation.See full question
A bus and a rigid lorry, both without trailers, meet at a narrow section with no priority signs or steep gradient. Entry order is uncertain and one must reverse. Under the article 62 order, which should do so?
The lorry. The lorry. Collective passenger-transport vehicles precede lorries, tractor units and vans in the article 62 order. The question excludes trailer combinations, traffic-control instructions and steep gradients; if entry order is known, article 60.1 applies. Not all special vehicles rank first: that category concerns those exceeding regulatory masses or dimensions. Reverse distance, width, length or maximum authorised mass decide cases involving the same vehicle type or unlisted cases.See full question
See all special vehicles and personal mobility vehicles questions

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