Belgium for Swedish Drivers — the Alcohol Jump & Priority-Right

Swedish drivers find Belgium familiar in shape — EU licence, right-hand traffic, dense motorways — but two of your home habits don’t map onto it. One concerns the bottle, the other the junction.

The alcohol limit is more than double Sweden’s

Sweden runs one of Europe’s strictest limits at 0.02. Belgium sits at 0.05 — on paper, room for a glass with dinner. In practice, roadside breath tests are routine and a failed test means an on-the-spot fine and a possible driving ban, so the disciplined Swedish habit is worth keeping rather than relaxing. The looser number is a fact, not an invitation.

Priority to the right replaces orderly junctions

Belgium leans on priorité à droite far more than Sweden’s clearly-signed junctions do. At an unmarked crossing, a car coming from your right has priority, even on a road that feels like the main one — and local drivers pull out expecting it. The yellow priority diamond tells you when you keep priority; without it, yield to the right. The Brussels ring (R0) is where this is least forgiving, with fast merges and short slip lanes.

Speeds, tyres and the essentials

Motorways are 120 km/h (above Sweden’s 110), rural 70–90, town 50, central Brussels 30, with heavy average-speed cameras; 10 km/h over is around EUR 53 — model it on the Speeding Fine Calculator. There’s no winter-tyre mandate, unlike home, though the Ardennes can ice up. No IDP is needed (confirm via the Driving Permit Checker), the car must carry a triangle, vest, first-aid kit and extinguisher, petrol is about EUR 1.90/litre, and emergency is 112. Full detail sits on our Belgium driving guide.