Transporting children in the childcare sector

If you transport children to or from your childcare location, you need to do so safely. As the owner of a childcare organisation you are responsible for the safety of the children. The Dutch law does not state any exact rules, but it does require you to make sure the means of transport is safe and used responsibly. If you use a special motorised vehicle (bijzondere bromfiets) or a car, you must comply with the rules for these vehicles.

Electric cargo bike

There are no specific rules on the transport of children by cargo bicycle or electric cargo bike. Do you want to use your electric cargo bike to transport children to or from your childcare location? The same traffic rules apply as for a normal bike, if:

• the motor has a maximum capacity of 250 watt
• you need to pedal to move forward
• the electric cargo bike’s pedal assistance top speed is 25 kilometres an hour

You are responsible for the way your childcare organisation handles transportation.

BSO bus (special motorised vehicle)

If you want to use an electric wagon (which does not require cycling) for your childcare organisation, you can only use the BSO bus. Under Dutch law the BSO bus is a special motorised vehicle (bijzondere bromfiets, in Dutch).

If you want to transport children by BSO bus you must keep to the rules (in Dutch), among others:

• The driver is at least 18 years.
• The driver successfully finished a training on driving the BSO bus.
• The driver is not allowed to hold electrical devices (such as a phone or a music player) while driving.
• The driver must not drive under the influence of alcohol, drugs, and some medicines.
• You use the vehicle on designated cycle paths, you are not allowed to drive on the carriageway (unless there is no cycle path) and the pavement.
• The BSO bus has third-party liability insurance (put the insurer's sticker on the bus)

The Dutch Guarantee Fund & Knowledge Centre Childcare (Waarbordfonds & Kenniscentrum Kinderopvang) regularly checks if BSO buses comply with all rules.

Transporting kids by car

In the Netherlands, if you transport children by car you must keep to these rules:

• A child car seat is mandatory for children smaller than 1,35 metres.
• You have to use an approved car seat (R44 and R129/i-Size). You can find an example of what an approval label looks like in the annex to the Child restraint systems regulation 2014 (in Dutch).
• Children taller than 1.35 metres must wear a seat belt. Does the belt run across the child's neck instead of across the chest? Then you must use a booster seat.

The number of people you transport may not exceed the number of seats in your car. You can check the number of seats in your car on your vehicle registration card or through the RDW's online portal RDW Kentekencheck (in Dutch). It is forbidden to transport people in the cargo space of cars. You are also not allowed to transport people in car trailers.