Your rights at a police traffic stop in Belgium

A police traffic stop rarely lasts long, but what you say and do during it often shapes the rest of the case. Knowing your rights at a police traffic stop helps you avoid mistakes that are hard to put right later. Below you will find what the police may ask, what you must undergo, and where you do have rights.

Which documents must you show at a police traffic stop?

The police may ask to see, among other things, your identity document, your driving licence, the vehicle registration certificate, the certificate of conformity and proof of the compulsory third-party liability insurance. If you do not have these documents with you, you risk a fine, but that is quite different from being uninsured or not being entitled to drive. The distinction between “not on me” and “not in order” is exactly what we check in the police report (proces-verbaal / procès-verbal). See also driving without a licence and driving without insurance.

The breath test: compulsory, even without suspicion

The police may require a breath test from any driver, from anyone about to drive, and from anyone presumed to have caused a road accident or to have contributed to it, even if that person is the victim (Article 59 § 1 of the Road Traffic Act, Wegverkeerswet / loi relative à la police de la circulation routière). No prior suspicion is therefore required.

If the breath test shows an alcohol concentration above the legal limit of 0.22 mg/l of exhaled alveolar air (0.09 mg/l for professional drivers), a breath analysis follows (Article 59 of the Road Traffic Act). Above that limit, a temporary driving ban also applies, which since 1 July 2026 is always 12 hours. You can read more about the limits in our article on the drink-driving limit.

Can you refuse the breath test?

No, and refusing is almost never in your interest. Anyone who intentionally refuses to undergo the breath test or the breath analysis, or who intentionally refuses a blood test without a legitimate reason, commits a separate offence (Article 34 § 2, 3° of the Road Traffic Act). The penalty is the same as for an alcohol concentration of at least 0.35 mg/l of exhaled alveolar air.

For offences committed on or after 1 September 2026, this is a level 1 penalty (strafniveau / niveau de peine) under the new Criminal Code: a fine of €2,000 to €20,000 (including the statutory surcharges, opdeciemen / décimes additionnels) or another penalty of that level, such as community service (werkstraf / peine de travail), and possibly a driving ban (verval van het recht tot sturen / déchéance du droit de conduire) under Article 38 § 1, 1° of the Road Traffic Act. Imprisonment is excluded at this level. For a repeat offence within three years of an earlier conviction for an alcohol or drug offence, it becomes a level 2 penalty, with a fine of €4,000 to €50,000 or even imprisonment (Article 36 of the Road Traffic Act).

For offences committed before 1 September 2026, the old regime still applies: a fine of €1,600 to €16,000 (surcharges included), or €2,000 to €20,000 for offences committed on or after 1 February 2026, unless the new rules are more favourable (Article 2 of the Criminal Code). Read more in our article on the new Criminal Code and road traffic.

A refusal is therefore not treated as drunkenness. Drunkenness (dronkenschap / état d’ivresse) is a separate offence (Article 35 of the Road Traffic Act), established on the basis of outward signs, for which the court must impose a driving ban of at least one month. Anyone who confuses the two misjudges the risk.

When do you have a legitimate reason not to blow?

A legitimate reason does exist: a medical condition that makes blowing impossible, for example a respiratory condition. That reason must be made plausible, preferably with a medical certificate. In that case, a blood test may be ordered (Article 63 § 1 of the Road Traffic Act).

Your rights during the breath analysis

• The waiting period. The fifteen-minute waiting period you could previously request before the breath analysis was abolished in 2024 (Royal Decree of 14 April 2024): current devices must be able to detect alcohol in the mouth themselves.
• A second analysis. At your request, a second analysis is carried out immediately and, if the difference is too large, a third (Article 59 § 3 of the Road Traffic Act). If you do not ask for it, that opportunity is lost.
• The device. A breath analysis device must be type-approved and calibrated. We systematically request those certificates.
• The blood test and the counter-analysis. If blood is taken, you are entitled to a counter-analysis of the preserved sample, at your own expense. The time limits for this are short.

From 0.35 mg/l, the public prosecutor may also order the immediate withdrawal of your driving licence (onmiddellijke intrekking / retrait immédiat), in principle for fifteen days (Article 55 of the Road Traffic Act); the police court (politierechtbank / tribunal de police) may extend this by up to three months. Under a circular issued by the Minister of Justice, public prosecutors throughout the country now apply a threshold of 0.35 mg/l (previously, as a rule, 0.50 mg/l). Read more about the immediate withdrawal of the driving licence.

The drug test: checklist, saliva test and analysis

For drugs, the check takes place in stages (Article 61bis of the Road Traffic Act). The police first go through a standardised checklist of signs of recent use. A saliva test only follows if that checklist points to such use; after a road accident, however, the saliva test may be taken immediately from anyone who may have contributed to causing it.

If the saliva test is positive, a temporary driving ban of 12 hours follows (Article 61ter of the Road Traffic Act), together with a saliva analysis in a laboratory or, in certain cases, a blood analysis. Only that analysis, not the roadside test, provides proof of the offence (Article 37bis § 1 of the Road Traffic Act). For offences committed on or after 1 September 2026, this is an offence carrying a level 1 penalty, with a fine of €2,000 to €20,000. See also our article on a positive saliva test.

Right to silence and questioning: your rights at a police traffic stop

You must state your identity and undergo the statutory tests, but you are not obliged to say what you have been drinking, where you are coming from or how fast you were driving. Statements you make on the spot end up in the police report and may later be used against you. Staying polite and answering factually the questions about your identity and your documents is therefore the safest approach.

If you are deprived of your liberty and questioned, your Salduz rights apply: a confidential consultation with a lawyer before the interview and assistance during it. If you are questioned as a suspect without being arrested, you in any event keep your right to remain silent; whether you are also entitled to a prior consultation with a lawyer depends on the offence: that right only exists for an offence that can lead to a custodial sentence (Article 47bis of the Code of Criminal Procedure). Read more about police interviews and your Salduz rights.

What to do after the police traffic stop

Write down the same day the time of the stop, who was present, which devices were used, whether you asked for a second analysis and exactly what you said. These details are hard to reconstruct later and make the difference when the police report is checked.

If the police propose an immediate payment (onmiddellijke inning / perception immédiate), only pay if you do not dispute the facts: payment extinguishes the right to prosecute, unless the public prosecutor gives notice within one month that it intends to prosecute after all (Article 65 of the Road Traffic Act). When paying makes sense is explained in our article on settlements in traffic cases.

Lawyer after a police traffic stop: Novex Advocaten can help

Did you receive a police report or a summons (dagvaarding / citation) after a check? Send us the document and you will know where you stand and what can still be done. We plead before the police courts of Brussels, Halle, Vilvoorde, Leuven and Aalst. More about our approach: traffic law lawyer in Brussels.

Call 0484 99 22 72 or email asfour@novexadvocaten.be.