Also 'Freedom Convoys' on Dutch roads

This afternoon, people are driving in a convoy of cars, trucks and tractors at various places in the Netherlands. The action seems to be prompted by the so-called Freedom Convoy in Canada, where thousands of people protested against the corona rules.

Omrop Fryslân reports that about 25 trucks, dozens of cars and a number of tractors gathered in Leeuwarden, and then drove past all eleven Frisian cities in protest against the corona rules. Also in Overijssel people decided to drive in a convoy, which, according to RTV Oost, would drive from Hengelo to Zwolle. In Zwolle, the announcement would then have been made to drive to Apeldoorn.

Earlier, the Telegram channel Convoy Nederland Nieuws called for “a tour of the province”, where “everything and everyone on wheels” is welcome. Freedom Convoy Netherlands reports on Twitter that Friesland kicked off in Leeuwarden. The account also mentions convoys in Noord-Holland, Flevoland and Limburg, among others.

Traffic does not seem to be affected by the actions for the time being. Every now and then it sometimes drives a bit slower, but the traffic volume is currently so low that the actions cause little or no delay, according to a spokesperson for the ANWB. Rijkswaterstaat makes a similar sound on Twitter. In response to questions from people about what is going on on, for example, the A9 at Akersloot and A50 from Apeldoorn to Zwolle, Rijkswaterstaat reported seeing “slowly moving (manifesting)” vehicles at various places in the country around 1.45 pm. “But for the time being this is not causing any hindrance.”

Chain collision

A little later, the ANWB reported that a collision had occurred on the A2 Maastricht highway in the direction of Eindhoven near Leende in which five cars were involved. The pile-up took place behind a number of slow-moving trucks. The exact cause is still unknown, but according to a police spokesperson, the incident happened near a convoy. “It happened very close to the convoy.” It is not yet known whether anyone has been injured.

Hundreds of truckers drove from Vancouver to Ottawa this week in the so-called Freedom Convoy in Canada. Other people, who are not truck drivers, also joined in. In total there were thousands of people. The truckers’ protest initially started as a protest against the mandatory vaccination of truck drivers who want to cross the border into the United States, but has increasingly become a demonstration against the corona rules and vaccination in general.

Transport industry association Transport en Logistiek Nederland (TLN) says it has “no involvement in the so-called ‘Freedom convoys’”. A spokesperson points out that the organization of those convoys has called on “everything and everyone on wheels” to participate. The convoys therefore do not specifically represent the transport sector, according to TLN.

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